


3KK: Family Vacation (Shiro I)

by crumbcake



Series: Three Kids Klance [13]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Domestic, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Family, Family Dynamics, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Other, POV Original Character, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-08-14 09:36:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20190145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crumbcake/pseuds/crumbcake
Summary: Keith, Lance, and their family go on a roadtrip. Mostly ordinary things happen. Mostly. :)





	1. En Route Incident 01

**Author's Note:**

> A roadtrip like no other! A huge thanks to Madoshi for the beta! 
> 
> This installment will have one or two arcs, the first being the 'En Route Incident' which is mostly in an OC character's POV (third person limited). No warnings for this chapter but I'll up the rating and warn as I go as there will be triggering events later on. Hope you enjoy! :))

The price of civilian jumps varied depending on the distance. The international exhibition race for cyclers was on the other side of the world but Keith and Lance promised Clara that they would sign her up if she improved her grades during the last school quarter, which she managed. There were plenty of loud whoops and excited gushing when they all sat together to plan out a family vacation around the event. 

The destination required two hour-long solar-powered jumps. Civilian jumps of that range were pricey, especially for a family of five (though Saul’s ticket was free); moreso for a family of five hauling oversized cargo — but it was convenient, comfortable, and they could afford it, so they bought the tickets.

Shortly thereafter and much to Keith’s disappointment, he noted that his daughter’s enthusiasm had waned. Clara would smile belatedly when he brought up the trip and she would try to act like she was excited but it was clear that her heart wasn’t in it. She would grow subdued and run out to her makeshift workshop to configure custom cycler components until late at night (word of her customization skills was spreading and there were buyers for her builds).

Something had definitely changed so Keith deployed his usual tactics to get to the bottom of whatever was bothering his daughter — he badgered Lance for information. He knew she would talk to her dad but not  _ him _ (Why didn’t she trust Keith? He was trustworthy!).

From what Keith could gather, it had to do with Marcelo who was Clara’s forever crush. Marcelo had wanted to go too, albeit for entirely different reasons. There was a renowned ‘Flavorcon’ in the same country on the same dates which he was desperate to attend. The con was pricey but they offered a free day for students interested in the industry. 

The con’s organizers provided a limited number of free hotel and travel vouchers via lottery for the students that needed financial assistance, however, Marcelo was not picked. He had a part-time but he couldn’t save enough to pay for the travel expenses especially since his mom (single parent and overworked) wouldn’t let him go without his sister, Anita. Worst yet, last minute prices for jumps were exorbitant.

Keith suspected Clara was working her butt off to help Marcelo purchase the tickets. It was very sweet. Knowing his daughter, she probably hadn’t thought about the fact that all the hotels near the events were likely booked. She sometimes missed the obvious, unless she was trying to be devious; then she would have every detail planned down to a T.

He wished she would just say something to him instead of moping around the house or sitting in their terrace, hunched over her vid, selling her components through the streams. By the way, that was supposed to be  _ his _ terrace but Clara liked it enough to stick around even when he went up there. It was nice to spend time with his teenage daughter without pressuring her into it.

  
She was sitting in one of the overly cushioned rattan chairs. Keith leaned in from behind and hung his arms over her shoulders, watching her update her inventory. He felt a pang in his heart when he noticed that her scent was that of an (anxious) adult alpha. His daughter would grow up all the way and leave him one day. He squeezed her just the tiniest bit.

“Ma…” She complained, distractedly. Maybe she was annoyed by his overly mothering scent.

“All the rentals that are anywhere near the cycler race are booked, Princesa. Hotels, private homes, lodges, hostels, campgrounds. All of them.”

He watched her fingers go still over the projected screen.

“Oh…” She sounded so disappointed. 

“I returned the jump tickets.”

Keith tried not to smirk when he felt his daughter stiffen. Her scent was rapidly escalating in distress. He was surprised she hadn’t immediately exploded. Maybe she was learning patience after all.

He couldn’t help holding back for another dramatic beat or two before continuing very casually, “Our hotel suite has two rooms, both of which have two beds. If you’re willing to share a bed with Shiro, then Saul can sleep with me and your dad or we can get a cot. That would leave one room empty… for a friend or two if you’d like to invite someone to tag along on our road trip. There’s plenty of room in the back of the car with the extension.”

“..Mami... what...”

He grinned as he could virtually hear the moment it all clicked. He grinned harder when the stressed aspect of her scent took a drastic turn. She nearly knocked the chair over when she whirled around to embrace him.

Next thing Keith knew, Clara was wildly dancing around the terrace in a squealing frenzy.

He laughed as she grabbed him up again, nearly lifting him off his feet.

“Mami,  _ thank you _ !!”

\-- — 

Anita had seen the jet car fleetingly whenever Clara was running late. This time she would be able to look her fill because she was actually going to ride in it. Not that fancy cars should matter, Anita made a point of spurning anything so materialistic and shallow. She swallowed nervously as she watched the car bank gracefully off the empty skylines and onto the ramp-guides, sleek and silent as it connected with the smartstreet. It smoothly decelerated as it headed towards her and Marcelo. 

She wished that she didn’t care about such things, but she loved jetcars, and that glorious jetcar in berry red was a sight to behold. She couldn’t even find this model in her obsessive datastream searches; the closest results were ludicrously expensive off-grid flyers and those were sold in limited quantities. 

That type of car was status symbol fodder for the rich and powerful, otherwise, it was a complete waste of money. People generally did not have the skill or license for off-grid piloting those models were capable of. Hell, most people did not go past a hovercar or took the automated airbus. Yet Clara’s family had  _ two _ jetcars of unknown origin. Clara’s family had to be rich which Anita would’ve felt disdain for, if not for Clara’s very down-to-earth personality. Granted, she was a little weird but not in a privileged-has-never-known-struggle kind of way.

The shining jetcar arrived silently, trim lights indicating the magnetic shielding was down. The front passenger window decompressed and rolled down to reveal Clara, staring. As always, Anita couldn’t help noticing how intelligent and striking her friend’s gaze was. She seemed dark and dramatic in a way that suggested there was a great deal more to her than she let on. Past her on the driver seat was someone that appeared to be a slightly older clone of Clara, but male and omega.

His expression was completely blank, his gaze unnerving in how blatantly direct and commanding it was for an omega. For anyone. Anita had a feeling that she and Marcelo were being analyzed, labeled and categorized for later dissection. Was he an older brother then? If Clara was dark and devil may care, her brother appeared to be on a whole different level. Where did this slice of sexy, evil-looking family come from? Were they even real?

Anita wondered what their parents might be like if they raised both an alpha and an omega to be so clearly spirited and independent. So unlike her own upbringing where mom was all about simple survival and protecting the omega of the family. Marcelo hated it.

“Are you getting in or what?!” Clara broke the silence with her usual patience and grace. There went all her mysterious air.

Her brother’s eyes reeled back to her in clear annoyance. 

“You’re grounded.” He said flatly and opened a permissions screen. Wait, what??

Clara whipped around, “What?! For what?? I didn’t even do anything!”

“I’m restricting your data access for tonight.” He smirked.

Marcelo was laughing as Clara’s brother’s hand flew over standard family permissions settings which he apparently had unrestricted access to. Was her brother her legal guardian, then? Well, no, that wasn’t right. Marcelo had mentioned he had met her parents at the Christmas parranda he snuck out to. He had said that they looked really young… but this guy… couldn’t  _ possibly _ be-

“Mami, I can’t afford that!” Clara said, scandalized. “I need stream access for cycler configurations-”

No way. This wasn’t real. Anita tried not to gape. That omega was her mom?!! He looked maybe five years older than her! At most! How was that even possible?! She glanced over at Marcelo who was enjoying watching her reaction. Okay, Marcelo tended to underreact to life but his casual description of ‘young parents’ was a ridiculous understatement. Anita wondered suddenly what did Clara’s dad look like? 

“It’ll be more if you keep talking, Clara.”

“Mami!” Clara groaned, exasperated.

“Two days.” 

“But I didn’t DO anything!”

“Three days.”

“Now you’re just enjoying it.” Clara accused. 

“Five.”

“Five?! You skipped four!”

Her mom smirked. “Eight.”

Anita heard Clara suck in her breath, “This isn’t fair-” She began but then interrupted herself blurting, “Thirteen!” at the same time as her mom who laughed in response. The way his face softened with humor was pleasantly disarming.

“Hi, Mr. Alvarez. This is my sister, Anita.” Said Marcelo, paying the argument no mind as he grabbed their suitcase and slung it into the opened cargo cubby. He herded Anita towards the backseat door that had also slid open. 

There was that penetrating look again. “Hi Marcelo. Anita. Make yourself comfortable.” Why did that sound practiced?

“Hi, Mr. Alvarez,” Said Anita, ”Nice to meet you, thank you for this.”

“You’re welcome.”

Anita climbed in behind her brother, immediately catching Clara’s mom’s scent. He was  _ sweet _ even for an omega and smelled extremely compatible pheromone-wise. Anita tried not to think about that at all. Instead, she focused on the buttery softness of the seats and the interesting control panels in the back piece of the center console. The inside of the car was as luxurious as she expected.

Mr. Alvarez’ gaze swung back to his daughter as Clara asked hopefully, “Don’t I get anything for figuring out your pattern?” 

“Yes.” He said and paused dramatically while navigating through Clara’s biosignature permissions. “You get thirteen days of data restrictions.”

“Maa...” She groaned miserably as he laughed again. 

“Or an ice cream.”

“I can’t wait until I’m eighteen so you can’t ever do that to me again.” She grumped. “And I want coconut flavor.” Adding “please” as an afterthought.

She seemed to at last notice Anita and her brother in the back. She turned to smile at them, her face growing the tiniest bit pinker when she looked at Marcelo. Anita wasn’t sure how she felt about the way Clara gazed so dreamily at her brother. How she lingered sometimes and quickly looked away blushing when she appeared to catch herself. 

Anita was starting to grow familiar with the nuances of Clara’s scent, and the ‘excitement’ she often caught from her leaned towards ‘highly attracted’ excitement. Marcelo’s was much more muted which was normal for him, but still pleased around Clara, and responsive. He could take care of himself but Anita was still his older alpha sister and she did her best to look out for him.

“You guys ready? We’re getting ice cream. It’s gonna be good, mami knows the best places.” 

Apparently, she wasn’t embarrassed over her interaction with her mom in front of them. She really did not give a damn about people’s impressions. 

“They’re getting ice cream, I’m on the fence about you, princesa.”

“You just said you’d get me ice cream!”

“Did I? I don’t remember that.”

Wow, it looked like Clara got trolled by her mom a lot.

She huffed, “I just want you to know that when you’re old and senile and I get permissions to your biosignature, I’m gonna restrict the rest of your data life to pop vids and infomercials.”

Mr. Alvarez smirked. “Even if I pay for your ice cream?”

Clara snorted. “There is not enough free ice cream in the world that will change your infomercial destiny.”

Her mom laughed as he reinitiated the hover mechanism of the car. It hummed briefly then fell silent as the car accelerated.

“Then I’ll give guardianship to Shiro or Saul  — -  they’ll be good to me in exchange for ice cream.”

“That’s not gonna work for long.” 

“Yes it will. Like you said, it’s really good ice cream.”

“Ugh mami, I hope you don’t think you’re funny cause you’re so not.” She groused. “No, stop!” she said in alarm as he pulled her in for a kiss on her cheek. She made the effort of pulling away but a laugh escaped her when he loudly smooched her.

“I can’t wait to see what you do at the race.”

Anita watched Clara escape her mom’s grasp and lean far away from him as she accessed a permissions menu. If Anita saw it right, then it looked like he hadn’t committed any changes.

Anita smiled as they peeled off the smartlane and took off for the skylines.

No, they were not a couple of dark and mysterious strangers straight out of a thriller vid. These were real people, a warm and lively family. They’re back and forth was affectionate and easy unlike the tense nature of Anita’s home life. Her mom loved them but she was high strung, and strict, and impossible when she was in one of her moods. Fortunately, her work kept her out of the house for the most part. Anita was interested to see what the rest of Clara’s family was like. 


	2. En Route Incident 02

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anita and Marcelo meet the rest of Clara's family. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings! Just a fun chap. Huge thanks to Madoshi for the brainstorming 'smoke-out' and the beta! ;)

It was a short drive to Viñales. Clara lived in a rural area, where most roads still didn’t see much hover tech traffic. The town was eclectic; residential buildings went from modest bohios — thatch-roof houses — dotting the countryside to colorful one-story row houses lining the cobblestone streets to stately concrete homes scattered across back roads. Transportation was by jet car, airbus or land vehicle for the most part. There was one hover lane that ended abruptly near Clara’s home, which was tucked away among fig trees on a dead-end fork in the road.

They landed smoothly in front of a one-story house that had a covered patio around the entire perimeter supported by tall arches. There was a rooftop terrace and on the ground floor, the iron fence along the sides of the house was covered in vines. The gates on the fence were wide-open and welcoming — relaxed in a way that was opposite of Clara and her mom’s vibe. Interesting. Anita gawked at the beauty of it. She felt a little out of place hanging out with people that she wouldn’t usually encounter in her circles (other than some of the snobs in the cycler circuit whose parents bought them their fancy configurations). How was Clara so unlike those jerks?

Clara’s mom had ticked a setting that was extending the back passenger area. Clara scooted into the back section to secure the new seating configuration. The back now had all-around seating like a small limousine and included a few cubby wells that were revealed within the additional space. Anita never would’ve guessed the car would have a family extension, it looked like a muscle car. Probably the family car most equipped to chase down criminals and fly nimbly through a cycler obstacle track.

A child dashed through the gates towards the jetcar, panic in his eyes. Hot on his heels was a man and a shorter child holding a stuffed dinosaur. 

“Shiro!”

The boy shoved open the back seat door, scrambled right over Clara and slammed on the safety belts and orbital emergency gravity harness too (what kind of car was this?!). The man, an alpha, nearly crashed into the passenger door, yelling, “Shiro!” while glimpses of the younger child appeared and reappeared as he hopped up to see through the glass. 

Shiro hunkered down, grabbing handfuls of his pants as if he was afraid they were going to be ripped away and watched with big eyes as the man went around to the other side. He manually locked the door before the man could try it yelling, “Papi, I already _ went _!” He looked back at the people in the car next to him and assured them, “I don’t need to go again!”

The man’s eyes narrowed, his voice was muffled by the sealed windows as he crouched down to argue, “Shiro, this is a seven-hour intercontinental trip with traffic, there will be exactly three bathroom stops. Every _single_ _time_ we go anywhere-agh, Saul-” 

The little boy next to Shiro’s dad had apparently given up hopping in favor of shoving his stuffed dinosaur high above his head as if it could peer into the car on his behalf, and consequently smacking the man in the face. 

Shiro eyed his dad warily, his big violet eyes narrowed. 

“I already WENT.” He declared stubbornly as Clara snorted. 

“Kitten, unlock the door for me.”

“Mm.” Clara’s mom was not inclined to assist the alpha, he was busy running through a checklist screen. So this must be Clara’s dad and he was just as young as her mom. Ridiculous! Anita wondered if maybe Clara was adopted inside the family since she was a spitting image of her mom.

“Kitten.”

“Lance,” Keith replied, clearly uninterested.

Lance harrumphed and picked up the smiling omega boy, the kid’s eyes sparkling with mischief — that must be Saul. The boy reached for the car and smooshed his dinosaur toy against the window.

“_ Shiro _.” Lance hissed, cocking his head past the toy just enough to fix a stern glare on his eldest son. 

“I’m not a baby!!!” the boy cried.

His dad glowered like he was maybe going to reach through the glass, grab Shiro and shot-put him out of Cuba. “Go again.”  


Anita had to laugh. The boy was unimpressed. He was not at all intimidated by the alpha and that stubborn crazed eye look was perfect. Shiro squared his shoulders and pouted at his dad, “Papi, I don’t need to go, I already went! I can’t pee anymore!!”

Shiro had sat right next to his sister, but Clara might as well have been on another planet. She was in her own world, reviewing her schematics and not paying any attention to the minor chaos around her. Anita exchanged a look with her brother, both grinning in amusement. They were only ten months apart and were the youngest in their extended family so they rarely interacted with younger kids much. 

Lance jabbed a finger in his son’s direction, glaring passed the dinosaur that was partially covering his face.“You’re gonna be in trouble if you need to go before our planned stops!”

Shiro did not seem very worried about it. He kept pouting at his dad, keeping his fingers firmly clenched on his pant legs. Clara’s mom rescued him by unlocking the doors and distracting Lance. 

“Can you get the cycler hitch?” He asked, lazily.

“Keith. Why don’t _ you _ get the cycler hitch? I’m a little busy?!”

“But you’re up,” Keith smirked at his harrowed looking alpha.

Lance gave him a dirty look before yanking open the driver seat door and dumping a giggling Saul onto his lap. That child with his flowy tulle skirt and periwinkle T-rex shirt was a stark contrast to his mom who was wearing snug black on black clothes. They looked cute together as they hugged and chatted cheerfully. 

In the meanwhile, Lance marched around the jetcar to Anita’s side and motioned for her to open the window, which she did somewhat nervously. Her mother, a beta, always made a huge deal about interacting with grown alphas as if they were the worst kind of people. As if Anita wasn’t an alpha herself. She and Marcelo might’ve lied about Clara and her family’s dynamics. It took a lot of convincing as it was to let them go half way across the world with a school mate’s family.

Lance was the most disarming alpha she’s ever seen with the way his face relaxed into a pleased and interested smile as if he was truly happy to see Anita and Marcelo. There was a prominent scar across his face that shouldn’t have added to his easy-going demeanor but somehow did just that. Anita suspected he had honed his charming leader skills down to an art and was accustomed to making people feel at ease.

“Hi, Marcelo.” Lance grinned at her brother, who greeted him back, then turned his full attention on Anita. “And you must be Anita. I’m Clara’s dad. And I’m shocked that Clara has managed to make two friends.”

“Har. Har. Har.” Clara didn’t even bother to look up.

“She laughs because it’s true,” Lance continued, blithely. “It’s hard when you don’t have the basics down such as,” he spoke louder and very pointedly, “introducing your dad to your friends for example.”

Anita turned in time to catch the sour look that Clara fixed on her dad. “Ugh, papi, could you not. Please? When did I have a chance to introduce you?!”

He carried right on, “Could I not what? Be amazing? Can’t help it, princesa.”

That provoked two loud snorts from inside the car. Anita laughed as did Lance who apparently was not offended by his daughter’s and bondmate’s response. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said, as an aside. He made her feel included like she was in on a secret. “This should be fun.”

“Thanks, Mr. Alvarez, it’s nice to meet you too.”

He winked before backing off and hurrying back towards the house. Lance was back a minute later, lugging several duffel bags and had stuck an arm out towards the side of the house, holding a hitch remote in hand. The cycler trailer (jetcar compliant) soon appeared, being guided by Lance. It’s magnetic field hummed as it snapped onto the jetcar hitch. 

Anita was excited — she often examined Clara’s cycler builds whenever she had half a chance and loved them all. The latest one looked unimpressive; its base was a model that was frequently left behind in junkyards for savaging_ . _The hull was outdated and part of the cycler block was faulty so whenever the engine activated, it would make a loud banging noise that startled half the crowd. Yet when the cycler flew, the piece of junk turned into something magical; effortlessly weaving through obstacles, easily cutting tight corners and outmaneuvering top of the line cyclers that cost more than a small house. 

Clara kept the insides meticulously clean and well maintained. Her coding was just as meticulous. The cycler’s programming was rewritten from top to bottom while the hardware was swapped for custom-made components that were expertly soldered in place. Clara’s cyclers were always a labor of love which Anita so appreciated. Her friend rarely won as her main interest was improving old models, so oftentimes she would be the one spinning out or her cycler would crap out on her through no fault of her own. 

Still, it thrilled Anita whenever some smug kid’s cycler got outclassed in a race by Clara’s modest looking model. Her skillful engineering could make anything fly, at least for a short while. Anita hoped she could find time to catch the exhibition race sometime during the bizarre flavor sniffing convention that Marcelo was dragging her to. 

She glanced at her brother. He was a bonafide weirdo — even now he was inspecting Clara’s thermos which was in a cupholder — she was sure he would grab it and start sniffing it. He was particularly obsessed with any home made drink that Clara brought and would pepper her with questions. 

Anita felt the jetcar bob as Lance dumped his luggage in the cargo bay. He hurried over to the driver's side and eyed Clara’s mom as he handed him a big travel bag and water bottles through the window which Keith set down between the front seats. 

“You got everything?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay great,” Lance said and gestured purposefully at his bondmate as if he was hurrying him out of his seat. 

Keith just stared at him as did Saul who remained seated on his lap.

“Kitten. Move. It’s my turn.”

“No.” 

A broad untrustworthy smile appeared on the alpha’s face. “It’s my turn.” He reminded, lightly.

“Skip a turn,” Keith replied instantly.

The smile disappeared immediately. “No! I was kiddie chaperone for the last two times. It’s _ your _ turn.”

“Skip a turn.”

He beamed at his omega, feigning cheer. “Kitten, get out of the car.” 

When all Keith did was stare back, Lance said, “Kids, this is what you don’t do.”

The man suddenly lunged and wiggled his fingers over Keith’s scent gland. Anita knew from messing with her brother that it would probably induce a heeby jeeby reaction. In an instant, Clara’s parents were fighting like madmen, arms and maybe a foot flailing. Saul casually hopped off his mom’s lap and climbed over the middle console to chat with Shiro as if he wasn’t escaping an all out struggle for the driver's seat.

None of the kids seemed to even notice. Clara turned the virtual page on her schematics.

Lance managed to unbuckle the harness and pull his omega straight out through the window. The struggle continued just outside on the grass. There were surprisingly movie-like dodges and feints but at last, Lance managed to grab Keith by the waist and toss him out of his way (Clara’s mom landed gracefully, like a very prim and agile cat). 

Lance activated the repellent screen and evil-eyed his bondmate as if daring him to go again. “It’s_ your _ turn.”

And just like the aforementioned cat, Keith shrugged like he never cared anyway and casually slunk to the other side of the jetcar, getting in the front passenger.

Oh boy. What would the rest of this trip be like? They haven’t even taken off yet.

The jetcar hummed to life once again. Clara looked up and met Anita’s eyes, smiling reassuringly for a moment. Her brothers were little bundles of energy by her side but were keeping to themselves. The jetcar’s inner track lights indicated it was reading the travel networks but not hooked up yet. Everything was set — they were really going!! 

Anita settled in and secretly squeezed her brother’s hand, who squeezed back. All they had was each other and just enough as a family for a small roof over their heads, so this was going to be an adventure to remember!


	3. En Route Incident 03

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The road trip saga continues!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Madoshi for the beta and usual hijinks! :D No warnings for this chapter, I hope you enjoy!! [Brackets mean spoken in Spanish]

The local hoverlanes led to regional skyline ramps that were typically two-tiered; the lower lanes were assigned to the hover tech as the travel paths for most standard vehicles. The higher tier was typically composed of two main virtual tunnels, one for the regional automated traffic — public transportation and commercial — and the other for cross-continental. The pathways were used by a mix of public and private transportation on automated and manual lanes.

There were virtual static fields enforcing the travel paths which created unseen barriers between the tiers. The bottom half of each of the two tiers were invisible but shaped like a pitched roof so any garbage or dropped items would fall to the sides, away from the traffic below. All traffic was networked meaning distressed vehicles could be flagged automatically and tractored to the shoulder if incapacitated. The shoulder could keep a vehicle aloft and protected until assistance arrived.

Across the Cuban coasts, the lower tier paths dropped away at the shore, or rather the top tier swung towards the ocean, reaching higher altitudes where it connected to the international One World skylines. Drivers were automatically queued or booted into the lower tier prior to the split if their vehicles were not capable of traveling on the cross-ocean tech. It was the first time that Anita was in a private vehicle that could ride the higher tier. 

She watched in wonder as they ascended into the skies, passing the bumper to bumper airbuses. They moved steadily alongside other jetcars, some of which were older models while others Anita recognized as top of the line. She looked forward to experiencing the international skyline — the two times she and Marcelo traveled to another continent were via the civilian solar jumps which had replaced the ancient airports and did not use skyline guides or tunnels.

Clara’s family seemed accustomed to the mode of travel and were casually keeping themselves entertained, not paying much attention to the traffic apart from Lance who was driving and chatting cheerfully with his bondmate. He beamed at Anita when their eyes happened to meet on the rearview screen he had up. 

Anita, however, had just caught sight of the skyline gate past clearing clouds. 

“Marcelo, look!”

She grabbed her brother and pointed out the window in wonder. They leaned in close together and gawked. The One World international skyline was a modern world wonder and they could see why. Anita had heard that the virtual tunnels were different over the ocean; she was just starting to see that for herself as they queued for the entrance. Ahead, the lanes of cars looked like they were being swallowed up by an enormous translucent water hose. Its entrance consisted of rotating rings in the sky that were like a hollowed-out multi-level lazy susan tipped on its side. 

On closer inspection, a few feet past the rings, the core of the skyline was actually made of smaller hexagonal holo-tunnels closely packed together in a honeycomb pattern. Each vehicle that made it through the gate was automatically assigned to an outbound tunnel and sucked in by the skyline. 

Bordering the ring were scrolling rows of large text in Standard, English, and Spanish that wrapped around the gate entrance. The text welcomed travelers to the One World International skyline. At the very top of the tunnel was a curved static sign indicating that they were entering the skyline via the Puerto Esperanza Gate (Cuba Branch). Right below it was pertinent details regarding travel conditions and notifications.

Traffic lurched forward slowly as each of the private vehicles were credentialed and scanned one last time for skyline-readiness. Flagged vehicles would be booted onto an inbound lane.

The novelty of the skyline wore off for the siblings after thirty minutes of sitting in traffic, Marcelo huddled together with Clara over a vid. Anita quietly observed them until she noticed that one of the kiddie scents was shifting towards stress and glanced at Clara’s brothers. Saul looked perfectly content, talking to his dinosaur and kicking his feet. Shiro was another story. His play tablet slid slowly off his lap, unnoticed, between himself and his sister, while he nervously knotted his hands together and sat very still.

His mom must’ve caught his scent as well since he turned around and asked worriedly, “What’s wrong baby?”

“Mami…” Shiro whined. He leaned towards his mom as far as he could reach given the safety harness and cupped his hands around his mouth, whispering. 

His mom relaxed and smiled, asking, “Can you hold it?”

“Hold what?” Lance asked, dangerously.

“Lance, he can’t help when he needs to go.”

“[Shiro what did I tell you?!]”

“[I didn’t need to go before now!]” His son reasoned.

“Cut him a break, Lance.”

“Uh huh, cut him a break how? We are over the ocean and queued for the gate and you saw that mess heading out? Looks like everyone and their mother are exiting Cuba today. I’m  _ not _ unqueueing. The closest rest-satellite is thirty minutes away!”

“Can you wait, Shiro?” asked Keith.

Shiro nodded, his little face solemn as he curled into his sister’s side.

“We’re not stopping.”

“Lance.”

“We’re  _ not _ stopping.” He repeated stubbornly.

Saul cheerfully began to hum. Clara was still reviewing her soft screen tucked close to Marcelo, swept up in describing the cycler course she had up. Anita knew that Marcelo didn’t care very much but he was paying close attention and smiling slightly like he couldn’t help himself (he had her thermos in his hand just as Anita expected). 

A similar shift in their scents cinched it for Anita; she stuck her headphones in and sighed because the feelings between her brother and Clara were mutual. How would they break it to her mom if Marcelo got serious with Clara? Anita would have to be there to keep the peace because mom would definitely overreact. And worse, she would eventually find out that this Clara was the same ‘beta’ that she and Marcelo traveled with and shared a hotel suite with. Anita groaned and tried not to worry about the eventual shitstorm.

Five minutes later, Shiro interrupted Anita’s wandering thoughts by meekly asking his mom,  “Mami, how much longer?” He was squirming restlessly in his seat.

“Try to think of something else, Shiro.”

Shiro moaned miserably to himself and pouted at the silent unpleased look his dad was sending him through the rearview screen. 

Five minutes after that.

“Mami…” Shiro whined.

“Shiro, we’re almost at the gate. Just a few minutes after that and we can get to a satellite,” said Lance patiently as Keith smirked.

“How much longer ‘til the gate?”

“Any minute now.”

“Are we there at the gate yet?”

“Wh-, did I not just tell you any minute now, do you think a minute has passed?! Shiro, tell mami what your teacher asked you to do yesterday.”

Shiro hesitated, distracted for perhaps two seconds before he yelped, “She asked me to go the bathroom!”

“Shiro,” Lance replied exasperated as everyone laughed.

“I need to go!”

“Shiro-” Said Keith as Lance said, “Hold it!”

“Papi I need to go!!” He said urgently. His tone was getting higher and more anxious.

“Kitten, do we still have a stash of diapers somewhere-”

“No!!!” Shiro screeched, offended beyond words that his dad would dare to suggest such a thing. He was a stately and all grown up eight, not some  _ baby _ ! Shiro unbuckled the safety belt and rushed towards the window, grabbing his pants again. “Papi, I can pee in the ocean-”

“You are NOT peeing out a window! Keep your pants up!” Yelled Lance as he rechecked the safety locks from his dashboard, ensuring that Shiro couldn’t open the pressurized window or door himself. Keith cut in, warning his son, “Shiro we’re not hooked to auto-travel yet, get back in your seat. Lance, leave him alone.”

“What? That solves the problem-”   
  


“Lance.” Keith rolled his eyes. “If we even have any, they’re not going to fit him and you’re embarrassing him.”

“I am NOT wearing a-! A  _ thing _ !” Shiro said distraught, crouching down on the floor and peeking into the cargo hold as if determined to search and destroy the offending item.

Keith turned around glaring as if he might jump to the back and end his son, “Get back in your seat  _ now _ !”

Shiro stiffened, then scrambled to get back to his seat, starting to cry, “Mami I really need to go...”

Clara had enough of Shiro jostling her and elbowing her screen. She turned, shoving him with her elbow and bit his head off, yelling, “God! Then put the  _ flippin _ pull-up on — pee and get over it! Nobody cares about your big boy cred!”

“You don’t have to snap at him like that,” Keith responded annoyed.

Shiro blushed beet red and shouted, “I am not a baby! I don’t use diapers!” 

“Do I look like I care?! Pee in a cup! Just shut up and stop moving!!!”

Shiro growled, unsnapped his safety belt and climbed up on his seat, a determined look in his eye as he faced Clara and went for the fly of his pants.

“SHIRO.” Said Keith, full-on scary mom mode for Shiro unbuckling the safety belts, but before Shiro could shrink back in horror, his sister grabbed him. Clara did not take well to Shiro attempting to pee on her and snatched him by the collar of his t-shirt jerking him close so they were nose to nose. 

“You are DEAD,” she hissed.

“Clara, let go of him!”

“Ahhhhhh let go!!” Shiro shouted, digging his fingers on Clara’s balled up hands. His sister shoved him back down on his seat. Shiro immediately leaped to his feet and stared at Marcelo as he said in a rushed monotone, “Clara keeps virtualstills of you on her vid— AHH GET AWAY, MAMA SHE IS TRYING TO KILL ME. I HAVE TO PEE RIGHT NOW. MAMI. MAMI.” 

“ _ Clara _ .”

“Don’t shake him like that!” Yelled Lance as Saul shook his dinosaur.

“Shake him like what?” Clara said through gritted teeth, she glanced back at Marcelo and reassured him. “Shiro’s lying.”

“I GOTTA PEE.” 

Keith grabbed Lance’s metal water bottle suddenly, unscrewed the cap and chugged the water down in three impressive gulps, “Let go of him, Clara. Come here, Shiro.”

She let go of him immediately, mostly because she was distracted by Marcelo’s amused, “Hey can I see your comm real quick?”

“What are you doing with my water bottle?” asked Lance, alarmed and suspicious.

Keith pulled his son right over the center console so he was in front with him and prompted calmly, “Piss, baby.”

“Really?!” Said Lance. “You went right past your own bottle!”

“He needs to go.”

“That in no way addresses my point.”

In the back seats, Anita was more interested in what just transpired regarding her brother. So she was right after all. 

“You got a thing for my brother?”

Clara looked up, eyes wide and pale as if she had been accused of murder and wrongfully convicted, “ _ No _ !” 

She had a big stubborn frown on her face and was meeting Anita’s gaze directly though she was getting alarmingly red. “Just a little.” She admitted. “No big deal. I wouldn’t date him. He’s not something to date.”

“What?!” Marcelo burst. Maybe he wasn’t sure if he had been insulted and should be outraged. He was probably not expecting Clara’s response on multiple fronts. “What is that supposed to mean??” 

Clara took a deep breath.

Everything coincidentally got quiet at the same time, including Saul who had stopped shaking his dinosaur in lieu of teaching him a song. The beat of silence was broken by Keith prompting his son, “Shiro.”

Shiro stage whispered, “Everybody can hear me...”

“Just go.” Keith responded, soothingly, “Everybody pees and if it’s in papi’s water bottle, the better.”

“You’re the funniest,” replied Lance.

Shiro made a desperate lunge for the radio panel, giving it several slaps. It turned it on, Shiro’s biosignature automatically changing the station to his favorite kid streamcast. He cranked it up all the way to his maxed out volume.

No one was pleased except for maybe Saul. The car erupted in loud complaints and groans but they endured as at last, Shiro relieved himself. His panicked scent dipped and therefore stopped agitating Keith, Clara and her friends. He was moving back to his seat when the travel prompts on the dashboard indicated they were cleared for the gate. The safety indicators turned green once the car was routed to a tunnel and they were on their way in autotravel mode.

The front seats could now swivel freely, Lance swung his seat around and eyed his son who was now focused on his play screen as if nothing had happened. He gave Shiro a very dry look. 

“Hey, you.”

Shiro met his gaze as if politely inquiring.

“ _ You _ are gonna be the end of me. Come here, trouble.”

Shiro grinned and dove for his dad, leaning into him, play screen still in hand.

Keith snorted as he took Shiro’s seat and picked up Saul, “And you want more kids.”

Lance perked up in interest, “Is that on the table?”

“No.”

The alpha frowned as if his dreams were dashed once again. It must’ve been an old argument between the two.

Saul settled on his mom’s lap, content, steadily singing to his dinosaur. He was actually a good singer, Anita smiled watching him. When he glanced in her direction he froze in horror and stopped singing for a moment, before blushing and settling on humming to himself. 

Keith looked at Clara, just the way he did when he was ready to corner her with a bunch of probing questions. Clara’s eyes widened in horror.

“Oh god. Here we go. Mami,  _ no _ ! Go away!” Said Clara panicking as she watched him glance at her then eye Marcelo curiously. Whatever came next wasn’t gonna be good. “Go away!” She implored.

“Marcelo…” Keith started, “Would you want to share your heat with Clara if she was around to rut or should she stay away?”

There were a few mouths left hanging open. And Anita had never seen so many kinds of interesting emotions go through Clara’s face. She nearly jumped out of her seat, she was so scandalized. “Oh my GOD mami STOP! That’s not— what are you doing — you can’t — “ She buried her face in her hands, “My mother’s asking Marcelo to share his heat with me, this isn’t happening.”

Lance snorted in surprised amusement, “Kitten.”

“What?” He asked like he truly did not understand what the problem was.

Anita had to agree with Lance that it was kind of insane for him to bluntly ask such a question. She was also kind of impressed. Lots of parents pretended their children would never do such a thing as if the kids weren’t affected by heat related urges; as if a sex-on-the-brain switch goes off only after the age of maturity. Most were better prepared but some, like Anita’s mom, for example, was about full blown denial. 

Keith was asking her omega brother directly instead of skirting him entirely or making assumptions on his behalf which was nice. Omegas tended to respect their fellow dynamic anyway, but the older ones and other dynamics made very annoying, disempowering assumptions.

Anita knew her brother well. He didn’t back down from shit and would add salt to a wound given half the chance. He was flustered but that didn’t stop him from seizing the opportunity to tease Clara mercilessly, “The problem is that you got no game.” Marcelo crowed, “Your  _ mom _ gotta do it for you.”

Clara gaped then sputtered, “I have so much game you don’t even know!!!”

“You just told my sister in front of my face that you kind of like me but I’m undateable. You got no game.”

“Maybe it’s because you are actually undateable?” she scoffed, giving as good as she got. 

Marcelo smirked, clearly ready for his checkmate, “I’m dateable. Just not to  _ you _ .”

“ _ Haa! _ ” Said Lance in highly amused amazement. Clara’s eyes narrowed, a reluctant smile on her face as her dad said, “That’s a third-degree burn. I like him!” 

Keith was smiling as well. “Me too.” He said though he turned his attention back on his daughter, “Is that true about all that game?”

She groaned and reburied her face in her hands. “Go away  _ please _ .”

“She got zero game.” Marcelo assured them and grinned broadly when her head shot up to glare at him, knowing she wanted to argue the point but didn’t want her mother on her case.

“Get out of my car.” She demanded.

“Not your car.” Said both her parents.

“Fine. I’m getting out of the car.” She moved as if she was heading for a door but her mom unceremoniously plopped her brother on her lap and gave her a side hug. 

“We should talk.”

“Nope.” She said grumpily as she wrapped her arms around Saul. Keith squeezed her which did not impress her much.

“What if I got you another ice cream?”

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Mami.”

Shiro who was side-eyeing the conversation all along, piped up, “Can I have ice cream?”

“I don’t know, can you?” Lance wondered.

“May I please have ice cream?”

“May I please have ice cream, too?” Saul asked, quietly excited.

“Yes.” Said Lance, kissing Shiro on his head as Keith choked everyone with his overpowering motherly my-child-is-the-cutest-thing-I’ve-ever-encountered-in-my-life scent. He simply smiled and patted Saul’s knee but his pheromones told the rest of the story.

“We all need something to cool down that burn from Marcelo. We’ll get some at the rest stop coming up.”

Clara rolled her eyes, “Please don’t encourage him.”

“What, you scared of a little backtalk?” Marcelo egged her on.

She tucked her head down, so her lips and nose were gently pressed against the top of Saul’s head, hiding her smile as she kept her eyes on her brother.

However, she was talking to Marcelo when she said, “Careful what you start, Drinksniffer.”

She glanced over at him which seemed to catch him off guard as he froze and helplessly blushed. Their scents had a common thread of gentle happiness. It was something that would make Anita want to gag and mock forever but she held back since she wasn’t fully comfortable yet with Clara’s parents. It didn’t keep her from plastering a big evil grin on her face. 

To her surprise, she saw a matching expression on Lance’s face. More of a worried frown on Clara’s mom's face but he wasn’t demanding, or shutting Clara and Marcelo down, or pushing Clara one way or another.

Anita decided that she really liked this whole family a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shiro having to go was not the 'incident' part of the 'En Route Incident' chapters, lmao. That's coming up in chapter 4! :)


	4. En Route Incident 04

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What now?” Lance asked. He sounded matter-of-fact, not in a dismissive manner but more like he was alert and wholly focused on the matter at hand. And what did he mean by that? What could they possibly do? (e.g. extraordinary things happen. Also, please mind the trigger warning on the chapter note!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: A loss of life is witnessed and described here, it may be unsettling.
> 
> Thank you to Madoshi for the wonderful beta :)

The car shot through the skylines at rapid speeds. Inside, the tunnel segments were often semi-transparent. They were designed to distract travelers from the monotony of the same scenery, hours or days worth. Some of the segments had interesting artistic patterns and endless projected landscapes that made it feel as if they were traveling through a serene painting. Some patterns looked like they swirled or gradually corkscrewed due to the jetcar’s velocity. Ads popped up on the jetcar’s notification screen when the car picked up the ad signals along the path.

Sometimes the honeycomb would become completely opaque so it felt like they were the sole travel lane; other times the full span of the skyline could be seen so all the equidistant vehicles traveling around them were visible. The cars moving at the same altitude two lanes over, looked like they were holding still due to flying at identical speeds. Sometimes, whenever the adjacent cars sped up, Anita noticed that the jet car she was in looked like it was going backward. The illusion was fascinating to witness. 

Cars that were passing, were gulped by the adjacent tunnels one after another in quick succession until they reached the new lane assignment or were on an exit ramp for a rest satellite. The skyline itself was an object in motion. Anita realized there were slight shifts made by the lanes themselves as if they were alive. Clara’s parents advised that the tunnels sometimes shifted suddenly, sharply detouring to evade extreme weather patterns or winds and any emergency conditions. However, the skylines could only move so far from the man-made rest satellites dotting the ocean. Some of these were built long ago though well maintained. 

Ocean currents powered the anchored rest sites which in turn powered the skylines — solar energy powered the vehicles while the excess was fed into the skylines and could be drawn back to vehicles that were low on energy in an ongoing loop. This part Anita was aware of as all cross-continental vehicles had the same solar intake/outtake components on their bulkheads.

She was happy to sit back and watch the man-made scenery as she played her music. She thrilled when they rerouted for their first stop; the cars in the adjacent tunnels made way automatically as they were sucked in from lane to lane, moving in the same motion as skipping stones. They were spat out on an exit ramp for a rest stop.

The satellite had several commercial facilities including an ice cream parlor. They stopped for ice cream; big creamy scoops in large crisp waffle cones and sat on the nearby picnic tables. Anita, Clara, and Marcelo sat close together, sharing stray thoughts and giggling over nonsense. Saul nudged his way into the huddle as if he were part of their trio and giggled too. The sun was shining, the air perfumed with the scent of grass and beach; the satellite bustled with cheerful travelers on break. Anita had never felt so relaxed and at ease. She would be happy to keep the moment going forever.

She got to witness Shiro’s poor luck first hand — his first ice cream scoop was accidentally dropped on his dad (actually on his mom but he leaped out of the way), his second was stolen straight out of his cone by a fat seagull. He scarfed down the third one before his parents could warn him to be careful then stuck his tongue out at Clara, who rolled her eyes, and hurried away to make friends with some fellow kids. 

In no time, he made fast friends with a little girl from a family sitting at a nearby park bench. Lance appeared shortly after, schmoozing his way into their little party, chatting happily with the parents while Keith kept to himself, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, keeping watch on everyone. He was much more reserved and aloof than he seemed to be in the privacy of their car. Anita supposed that the old adage of opposites attract was in play here. 

Half an hour later, they were back on the skyline making their way across the Atlantic ocean. They made their first Lance-approved bathroom stop two hours later and were barely under way again when all the vehicles in the skyline decelerated to a standstill. The safety indicators pinged red, warning them to get back in their seats and buckle up. 

_ Traffic incident… rerouting... _ appeared on the notification panel but they weren’t moving.

“Traffic incident?” Clara’s dad frowned. He swung around, locked the driver's seat, and launched a datastream panel. Keith buckled Saul in then checked Shiro and glanced at Clara and company before joining his bondmate in the front.

“What is it?”

“Several cars are blocking traffic.”

“Why aren’t they towed to the side? Something up with the network?” Keith opened his own panel.

“They’re off-hook on manual override,” Lance hesitated, frowning. “Several vehicles have pinged emergency services.”

Which explained why they weren’t moving. It was the same as the regional skylines; any automated system would stop traffic when an uncategorized emergency was detected or reported and resumed only when the incident was assessed by authorities.   
  


Anita could catch just a glimpse of Lance’s screen. She watched him expertly navigate the announcement screens and the local public feeds. The kids in the back had gone silent and watched wide-eyed with interest.

“What is it, mami?” Clara was seated back to back with her mom, she twisted as far as she could while strapped in to peer at his screen.

“Not sure Clara, hold on.” He said, distracted, then he flicked over a screen to his bondmate “Here.”

Lance glanced at the projection. “Where is that?” He pulled the tunnel directory which contained their orientation and the nearby numbered segments.

“Mami, gimme permission, let me see,” said Clara. “Let me see, please. Mami, just give me permission.” She badgered.

“Hold on, Clara.”

Fortunately, Clara was Clara and she kept hounding until her mom activated her biosignature for the driver feed so she would shut up. She whipped back around and they all leaned towards her projected comm, including Shiro and Saul, to see the events. Anita had a bad feeling about the commotion and subtly pressed close to her brother, subconsciously protective of him. What if there was a tunnel flame-out or maybe it’s just her luck that the one time she’s on the One World skyline it breaks apart — could they escape? She hated not having control of the situation, they would have to rely on Clara’s parents to get out — if they didn’t abandon her and Marcelo, that is.

“Don’t worry.” Said Clara’s mom, obviously sensing the rise in stress. He said it with so much serene confidence that Anita felt compelled to trust him. Even his scent was undaunted.

She watched with unease as they picked up several streams from fellow travelers by the incident point. The streams were all focused on the same trio of ragtag jetcars, one of them a newer model and the other two older but in decent shape.

According to the travel feed, the three were flagged as caravan travelers. Typically used by a big family or groups traveling together, caravans were cars synched up to a lead ‘flagship’ car. In this case, the flagship had stopped per the feed, which stopped the subordinate cars, effectively jamming the skyline’s westward F and H holo-tunnels. The rest of the tunnels remained stopped as the authorities had not yet resumed traffic.

Clara seemed to know her way around the travel feeds as she quickly pulled some official public logs Anita wasn’t familiar with and said, “There’s a bunch of warnings tagged for the car,” she read them out loud, “Manual override detected in automated lane, erratic movement, collision with static boundary detected… a bunch of towing attempts and the last one states: on hold pending emergency protocol command.”

“Clara, look!” Shiro cried out, pointing at one of the screens.

The live streams facing the driver side of the flagship captured a struggle within. The front window of the flag car was depressurized as the vehicle jerked erratically, almost colliding with traffic sitting in nearby lanes before the skyline automatically shuffled the cars away to prevent the collision.

“Clara, turn that off,” said Keith urgently just as a small child appeared in the window, struggling with someone inside the car that was attempting to push them out. There were glimpses of other hands trying to rescue the child. 

Clara gasped, switching off the projection just as her dad exclaimed, “Shit!”

Anita was moving before she could think. She scrambled to Clara’s side and stuck a hand up at Marcelo, not wanting him to see whatever was next. Her brother for once heeded her warning, his brown eyes worried, as he slid to the edge of his seat but hung back. Maybe he sensed that whatever was happening was something he didn’t want to witness.

The holotunnels were lined with static feedback but there were no true physical barriers that could hold substantial weight apart from the emergency tow lanes. The passengers were overpowered; the child — a little boy — was forcibly pushed out of the car and freefell through the skyline. 

“Oh my god!” screamed Anita, prompting Marcelo and Clara’s brothers to explode with shouts and questions. Saul began to whimper and cry.

The streams that were locked on the little boy were stitching together in a continuous view, allowing Anita and Clara to witness his flailing figure hit the car below and slide into the heated engine core before dropping down to the next tunnel. At this point the little boy’s body had grown still, dropping like a ragdoll through the skyline honeycomb, hitting several cars. The body landed on the pitched garbage guide, where it began to slowly tumble towards a gutter tunnel.

“What happened?! Can I see?” yelled Shiro, straining against his car restraints.

“No, Shiro, hang tight. It’s okay, Saul! Don’t worry!” Clara soothed, her face had turned a sickly white.

“Stay in your seat, Shiro.” said his dad, then he did something that caused an automated system prompt. A warning pinged in the front notifications screen — 

_ Caution: Manual Override Engaged _

“I pinged rescue,” Keith said. “Several travelers have already called.”

“What now?” Lance asked. He sounded matter-of-fact, not in a dismissive manner but more like he was alert and wholly focused on the matter at hand. And what did he mean by that? What could they possibly do?

“Get close… and avoid line of sight of the victim. Starboard, twelfth altitude. I’m connecting with authorities.” 

Clara was still watching her vid so Anita kept watching too. They witnessed two lanes getting cleared as One World skyway patrol accelerated towards the scene. The car in question, however, did not remain in place. It jumped from lane to lane, tethered cars in tow, until it reached the shoulder tunnels where it shot through an emergency e-valve. Anita shared a worried look with Clara.

In the meantime, Clara’s dad was carefully weaving through traffic, heading for the edge of the honeycomb as well.

“What’s the status on rescue?” He asked.

“Rescue’s on the way,” replied Clara’s mom, “Patrol’s in pursuit of the car but they’re not going to reach them before they cross the skyline’s outer boundaries. The police cars are not suited for a hover chase outside of the skyline fields. Special unit is on the way but it’s thirty minutes. Clara, lock down our cargo, please.”

Anita watched her friend quickly unbuckle and scoot down to the cargo wells, shoving loose items together. She scrambled to secure their loose travel bags and locked the cargo holds.

“What is happening?” Shiro asked his sister nervously.

“Clara,” whined Saul, quietly reaching for her. “I want mami.”

“Shh, it’s okay Saul.” Said Keith but he was too preoccupied with whatever he was doing on the panels to do any more for his son. 

“Shh,” Clara replied, surprisingly kind, as she locked the bays underneath Shiro and Saul’s seats. She briefly took their hands. “Be quiet and stay in your seats, okay?” She reiterated to her brother, “Seriously, don’t move from there, Shiro.” 

She waited until he nodded then buckled both of them into the emergency orbital restraints and asked Marcelo and Anita, who was sitting by her brother again, to do the same.

“[Are you all buckled up?]” Lance asked once she sat back down.

“Si, papi.”

Anita frowned at the reassuring smile Clara sent her way and gripped her brother by the wrist. Were they planning on pursuing the rogue vehicles? If the state-of-the-art patrol cars can’t do it, then what chance did they have? They were in a civilian car and no matter how fancy or off-grid capable; they wouldn’t have tow and capture capabilities. So what would they do if they did catch the culprits and that’s provided the runaway cars had not already sunk into the ocean? She knew Clara’s parents were vets but they weren’t law enforcement… were they?

Up in front, Lance looked at his bondmate, “We’re doing this?”

Keith hesitated and met Anita’s eyes on the rearview screen before glancing at her brother and back as if considering them. “Anita. Marcelo. We’re going to attempt to rescue the hostages. This is my family in the car; it is the only thing I care about. I promise you that you won’t be in any danger. You’re safe.”

Anita had a million questions but what he said made sense and time was of the essence. She nodded and felt Marcelo take her hand.

Keith acknowledged her with a quick nod then leaned as far as he could to address his daughter, “Princesa, I’m sorry, we’re gonna have to drop the cycler hitch.”

That meant the cycler would fall into the garbage guide and likely get compacted when it reached the gutter tunnel. Clara had been building that cycler configuration for over a year. She swallowed. “Okay.”

Keith nodded then glanced at Lance. “Let’s go.”

“Yeah.” Lance agreed, dropping the hitch. “Sorry, Princesa.” Alarms went off as they maneuvered tight through the skyline shoulder, the static feed at the border physically repelling the car so it would stay within the honeycomb.

“Where’s the next exit valve?”

“The closest one is ahead of us.” 

The car took up speed as it weaved smoothly through traffic that had been moved to the shoulder during all the last second reshuffling. They were moving manually while the rest of the cars remained at a standstill. Anita was sure that they were being recorded by all the bystanders.

“Permission was granted,” Keith said mysteriously, his tone had changed somehow. “They’re opening a valve for us, 2.5 kilometers. First altitude. Go.”

Clara’s dad  _ went _ . They banked hard, a tight sharp drop between tunnels, effectively cutting through the virtual borders, using the side profile of the car like an icebreaker hull to pierce through the static field walls. The kids, Anita, and her brother gasped at the sudden gravitational forces pulling at them, though everyone was held tight by the emergency harnesses. The jetcar did not seem to strain from Lance’s maneuvering. They dropped down several heartstopping altitudes before he righted the car within the lowest level of the honeycomb and shot through an empty tunnel. 

Inside the car, it had gone quiet, the tension so thick it could be cut by a knife. Even the kids were silent. Anita dared to look outside her window and saw the blurred edges of the tunnel racing by and beyond that a darker more immense blur. They were much closer to the ocean then they had been at any previous point. She had always loved anything water related but now the open sea felt like an imminent threat. The thought of losing power far away from the grid and drifting away at the mercy of storms and saltwater terrified her. 

She looked away in a hurry, feeling Marcelo squeeze her hand reassuringly, and trained her eyes on Clara who sat across from her. Clara had a few screens up, wholly immersed the way she did when she was deep in cycler coding at the track meets. On one of Clara’s panels, Anita recognized a troubleshooting app she often used. Her friend looked intense, completely in her own world that consisted of solely herself and her screens.

The ambient blue light of the holo-tunnel that came through the window switched suddenly to a blinking red.

“What’s happening?” Marcelo asked.

Clara briefly glanced up, “We’re approaching the e-valve. It’s just a warning.”

Shortly after, Anita saw an opening on the ocean-side of the holo-tunnel just as Lance rolled and pitched the car into the valve. It cut through the boundary between the skyline and ocean; the valve’s wall was significantly thicker than Anita had expected. She held her breath, body tense as their car completed an aerobatic slow roll - done by cyclers and aircrafts - to right itself through the gate. There was a deafening buzzing sound from the barrier they were cutting through, like the buzz from vintage fluorescent lighting, as if the skyline was resisting the e-valve. 

Saul whimpered, “Mami, I’m scared.”

“It’s okay baby. You’re safe,” said Keith, shortly followed by everyone in the car saying something soothing. When Anita looked over she saw Saul hugging his dinosaur with one arm and holding hands with his brother who was wide-eyed and pale but quiet. She was glad the kids couldn’t catch pheromone scents as they would probably cry at the panicked stress she and Marcelo were emitting.

They cleared the barrier; only a thin outer boundary left which they quickly sliced through and pitched high into grey clouds, presumably towards the rogue cars. Anita felt surrounded by endless grey and the fluctuating humming sound of the jetcar maneuvers. The skyline notifications screens were blank. She blinked, dazed. Maybe she was hallucinating and none of this could possibly be the way she was perceiving it. 

Yet, Marcelo’s hand in hers felt very real and anchoring; he was trembling. He wasn’t actually a fan of cycler flying and she knew that her brother had never experienced anything so aerobatic. She tucked her arm through his and reclasped his hand, determined to be brave enough for both of them.

“Do you see them, papi? I’ve got them.” Said Clara, her eyes scanning one of her screens.

“I’ve got eyes on them.” Keith said suddenly before Lance could respond. “On our right.”

Anita nearly smashed into the window as did Clara, craning to see.

They had cleared the grey clouds. Skimming over the treacherous dark waters, were the three tethered cars bouncing erratically over the waves. There was debris tearing off of one of the older models.

“That’s not sustainable! Why aren’t the subordinates untethering?” asked Lance. Their own flight path was curving towards the cars and rapidly descending. 

“Only the flagship has a licensed driver. The subordinates are not allowed to untether and they’re too far away to receive any new skyline commands.” Keith advised.

Clara scrambled back to her screens, suddenly. “Mami, give me admin. I bet their security patches aren’t up to date. if papi can get us within their short-distance range, I could get into their eLAN. I can untether them from the lead-car and trigger their safety protocols. 

Her mom did not hesitate. “Okay princesa,” he said, after a beat, “It’s granted.”

“Weapons?” Lance asked tersely.

“No, they’re unarmed.”

They dipped low enough to cause a foaming wake over the waves. It seemed that the jetcar they were in was much faster than the cars they were chasing. Within seconds they were on top of the subordinates, casting a dark shadow over one of them. The lead-car had caught sight as they were suddenly zigzagging wildly, badly rattling the subordinates. Anita couldn’t be sure if they were hovering or were actually skimming water.

Her heart was in her throat. No matter what maneuver the flagship tried, Clara’s dad seemed to easily predict them and avoided any collision while still remaining in a very tight formation. 

Clara’s hands were flying across her screen, her gaze wholly focused.

Another metal bulkhead piece ripped off the side of the torn-up subservient that was to their lower right. Anita could see the passengers. That car was packed - a shiver ran down Anita’s back - they were a bunch of frightened younger teenagers! They had crammed together against the window obviously screaming for their lives. Their mouths were mouthing “ _ Help _ !” in Standard and their tear-streaked eyes were wide in utter primal panic. 

They had to help them!

“Almost there, almost there!!” Clara yelled.

The notification screen lit up. 

_ [Yay, Cycler Trip!] caravan detected (3 vehicles). Do you wish to join? _

The words were replaced almost immediately.

_ Hooked to [Yay, Cycler Trip!]. Override flagship: MeerKat9178361 (Ford Flight / Genesis)?  _

_ Flagship override. New flagship accepted: X-GSN-VLD04 (Unidentified Model/Trim). _

Log lines kept scrolling through one of Clara’s panels. 

_ Warning: No skyline connections detected. Warning: Hull breach, Ben’s car. Disengage? _

_ Disengaged. _

_ Warning: Overheated power system, Millie’s van. Disengage? _

_   
_ _ Disengaged. _

At last, Clara mashed a static ‘submit’ button and sat up ramrod straight, her worried gaze trained out the window. Just then, the two subservient cars decelerated and dropped into the ocean, splashing hard. Anita saw the virtual shielding go up for both of them, meaning the safety protocols were triggered. They were quickly left behind as they bobbed in the water like lifebuoys.

Anita let out a loud whoop and would’ve leaped out of her seat if it weren’t for the restraints. Clara sighed, closing her eyes in relief and sagging back in her chair as everyone in the backseat burst into cheers.

Her dad shouted proudly, “Clara! That’s my girl! Good girl!”

“Good job, baby.” Keith was less exuberant but Anita could hear the fierce pride in his voice.

Clara smiled happily as she took stock of her brothers and then Marcelo and Anita.

_ Caravan canceled by MeerKat9178361 (Ford Flight / Genesis). _

“Can you tell me anything about the flagship?”

She turned leaning towards her mom as far as she could while in the safety harness.

“The driver just shut down their network. They’re completely offline now.” She hesitated, “That car is not built for off-grid, its hover elements are gonna break apart soon if they keep running like this on ocean brine.” She swallowed, “And it’s taken a beating - several systems are inactive including the redundancies. They might burst into flames or completely tear apart.”

“If we stop chasing she might stop running?” Lance theorized. 

“She was running like this before she was being chased. I don’t think she plans on stopping. There’s a teenage girl and three little boys with her.” Replied Keith. Clara’s parents must have access to the skyline’s manifest details for the car.

Anita could see that Keith was accessing another car compartment. She saw a glimpse of a soft tech bracelet that he slipped onto his wrist.

Clara’s dad briefly frowned at his bondmate. He was still in hot pursuit of the car. “Kitten...”

“There are no firearms in that car. I can do it.”

Do  _ what _ ?!

Lance looked determined. “Okay.”

Keith grabbed something else in the compartment. Maybe some sort of scabbard? 

“Keep your orbital restraints on. All of you.” He said while in motion. Anita wasn’t comprehending what he was doing for a moment because it was too ludicrous to believe. She gaped. He was depressurizing the front passenger door!

“Mr. Alvarez!” She couldn’t help yelling as he slid the door open. Shiro and Saul cried out in fright, “Mami!” 

“It’s okay.” He yelled just loud enough to be heard. Keith sounded utterly undisturbed and calm; in control of the situation. Strong winds rushed into the car, the air currents beating hard across Anita’s face. The oscillating air pressure assaulting her ears were made worse by the deafening whoosh noise of the car skimming water. Anita shoved her rippling hair out of her way as Clara’s mom climbed out of his seat so he could hang off the open side of the jetcar, hand clutching the safety grip handle just inside the car as if he were windsurfing. 

Anita could see that they had drawn even with the rogue car but at a higher elevation. Lance kept accelerating.

As soon as they were slightly ahead, Clara’s mom pushed off the jet car, pivoting forcefully as the lustrous flash of something metallic materialized in his hands. He swung it high above his head as if to stab. Lance pitched the car away and accelerated as soon as Keith leaped so it looked like he was falling into the abyss. Despite the stomach-lurching maneuver, they all dashed to watch through the rear windows, freeing themselves from the safety harnesses just as the front passenger door slid shut.

“Keep the safety gear on!” Lance admonished sharply. 

Clara tried to get everyone to comply but Anita’s eyes were fixed on the sight before her. Keith had landed on the flagship, apparently puncturing the roof of the car with some kind of gleaming violet weapon he was hanging on to. Anita and her brother scrambled to keep watch, window to window, as Lance flew them back around to a safe distance. Marcelo had flung his vid out to record.

“Put the safety back on! Now!” Shouted Clara somewhere behind Anita. She thought she heard Clara’s brother comply.

Keith had swung over the side of the car, battling with the pressurizing mechanism until it flew off. The next second, he was back on top, striking the sunroof area as the car swerved and pitched in a wild attempt to shake him off. The view was briefly blocked by a burst of sun coming through a break in the cloud cover, much to Anita’s frustration. Once they were back under shade, Anita caught sight of debris bobbing in the vehicle’s wake. Keith had disappeared.

The rogue jetcar spun out in a wide arch and came to an abrupt stop, wisps of smoke seeping from several components.

“Marcelo, Anita I swear to god if you don’t put the safety back on I’m gonna make you pay! Worse, I’ll tell my mom! Put it on! Right now!”

Anita slammed the straps back on with nerveless fingers, exchanging a breathless look with her brother and not really caring about Clara’s threats. She had never seen Marcelo so shocked in her life. She felt the same. 

Who are these people?!

Holy shit!


	5. En Route Incident 05

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She pictured confronting her mom suddenly, during one of her unfair guilt-tripping lectures. 'Mami, I’m so sick of that dumb Alpha mold you’re always comparing me to. I’m so much more than that.' Anita smiled to herself, her eyes on Lance. 'I’m gonna be my whole self, ma, and you can’t stop me. There is nothing wrong with me.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter! No warnings :) Big thank you to Madoshi for beta-ing!

“Clara, how’s the structural integrity of that car? I’m gonna get in close, can you run a diagnosis?” asked her dad.

She gave Anita and Marcelo evil looks for ignoring her earlier before she relaunched her screens. “Mami needs to get their network back on,” She craned to peer out the window, frowning. “I can’t tell how bad it really is without it.” She then pulled her screen over and smiled briefly, “Ah, he got it up!”

The notification screen indicated that they were being pinged. Lance answered immediately on private. “Kitten.” . 

Anita eyed him as he listened to the other end of the line on an earpiece. She wondered what it was like to be in that other car at the moment and how Keith had subdued the culprit. More importantly, what the hell was the nightmare story behind the crazy turn of events?

“Okay,” Lance said on the call then looked back at his daughter. “You got anything, Princesa?”

She yelled, “Mami, get the fire out of the rear suspension! Rest of the stuff is fried but okay if you can get that out! An extinguisher should be housed under the front passenger.”

“You got that?” Lance asked then nodded at his bondmate’s response.

Clara eyed her screen worriedly while her dad brought their car to a stop, hovering in place a short distance away. He looked alert, windswept, but calm. He was also completely blowing Anita’s mind! He was everything that her mom told her an alpha wasn’t - a listener, respectful and deferential to his partner, and shamelessly loving to his family. Clara’s dad clearly had no qualms with taking orders from his omega bondmate; in fact, he had sought it out without hesitation. His omega told him he was going to do a crazy thing and all he did was listen and back him up!

This was so unlike anything she’s ever heard from her mom about her own dynamic. Any whiff of defiance from Anita was her being a typical awful alpha while any ‘failure’ in protecting her brother meant she wasn’t alpha enough. Anita couldn’t win. 

She glanced at her friend thoughtfully. Plenty of her other alpha friends tended to treat omegas nicely but in a superior, condescending kind of way. Anita was only cognizant of it because of her closeness to her omega brother. She realized Clara was never like that. When she ragged on Marcelo it was over his personal quirks and not about him being an omega.

Her friend was very much a product of her upbringing; not just her mom defying stereotypes but her dad too. Anita wondered what that was like. Something inside her changed track when she looked back at Lance; what he had with Keith, that is what a true partnership could be like. Lance’s pride was not tied to a heavily guarded ‘alpha’ reputation and he was better off for it. Clara was better off for it. Their whole family was. A whole world of ‘I don’t give a fuck what others think!’ was opening up for Anita. 

She pictured confronting her mom suddenly, during one of her unfair guilt-tripping lectures.  _ Mami, I’m so sick of that dumb Alpha mold you’re always comparing me to. I’m so much more than that.  _ Anita smiled to herself, her eyes on Lance. _ I’m gonna be my whole self, ma, and you can’t stop me. There is nothing wrong with me. _

She knew she looked a little crazy but fortunately, Clara’s dad wasn’t paying her any mind. He was focused on his omega on the other end of the call. Another minute or two passed before Lance said, “Mami’s got the fire out. He’s staying in the car for now. We’re going to tow them back to a skyline satellite.”

“What is mami doing?” Shiro worried.

“He’s keeping the passengers in the car safe from the bad guy, baby. We’re gonna get them out for their safety so mami doesn’t have to worry. If you guys can do me a favor and squeeze in. Clara — Saul and Shiro might have to get on a lap.”

She was moving right away, “Anita, would you mind holding-”

“I’d love to, no problem.” She scooted over to the seat facing the brothers and took Saul. His young child scent was wonderful and he was a sweetheart. She snuggled him up and wondered if she could steal him somehow. Clara sat where he had been once the seat reconfigured to standard while Shiro voluntarily climbed onto her lap, curling into the safety of his sister’s arms as she hugged him, quietly protective.

“How many again, papi?” She asked.

“One teen, three young kids. It’s gonna be a tight fit.” He eased them down enough to tread water, their shielding filtering brine. “Remember they’ve been through a lot. Let’s try to make them feel safe, okay?”

“Does mami feel safe?” Shiro asked, worried.

“Mami’s super safe, Shiro.” Said Clara, “He’s got everything under control.”

Marcelo not so subtly chose to sit next to Clara; they leaned into each other as if they were an old couple sharing a little comfort. If Clara had any competition for Marcelo’s heart before this, it was gone now. She was gonna be tough to beat since she was a badass and didn’t know it. Anita knew that Marcelo lived for the type and she couldn’t exactly blame him. 

The ongoing lull gave Anita her first chance to process the madness of the situation. Reality was sinking in fast. Saul wiggled back in her arms and let out a little huff of breath, squeezing his dinosaur as if he too was coming down from the scary adrenaline rush. She was glad he was there to hug as he was an anchoring presence and she could worry about comforting him instead of battling her own newfound trauma.

Anita had her eyes on Clara’s dad who had locked the piloting mechanism on the dashboard and swung his chair around once the center console slid back but she wasn’t really looking at him. She was too shellshocked. None of what transpired seemed possible yet here they were, depressurized over the ocean with the skyline nowhere in sight. The hovering elements were active and reacting to the water surface it was forced to engage with, making the jetcar sway as if it were a fishing boat.

Curiosity and dread sunk into Anita’s bones as Lance slid open the back passenger, bungee straps in his hand. That child being pushed out of that jetcar came to mind, unbidden. She screwed her eyes shut but the memory ran its course anyway. She re-lived seeing that little boy lose his life. She was sure he died; the way his body collided with vehicle after vehicle was impossible to survive. Anita felt almost ashamed to have continued to watch, her morbid fascination felt like a desecration.

The little boy deserved more than becoming a spectacle for onlookers; his tumble through the skyline as if he were mere garbage unsettled her. It was just so senseless. She imagined what it would’ve been like if she had been a passenger in that car watching that happen to Marcelo when he was that age and trying to stop it and failing. She shivered and squeezed Saul. She was sure the memory would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Lance had swung one end of the straps to Keith; they were working on pulling the cars together enough for the kids to safely board. She watched Lance lean out and could hear him addressing the passengers, she couldn’t quite make out the words but she could catch his soothing and encouraging tone. Honestly, the more sides she saw of Lance, the more she admired him. This alpha flew his jetcar like a beast and was now all doting father figure and rescuer. What couldn’t he do?

The next moment, he took great care in helping a little boy board the car. The child was maybe Shiro’s age or younger. He simply stood in front of them where Lance had left him, gaze hollow, staring past them at nothing. The stale scent of his grief seemed to prompt everyone into action but Marcelo was the quickest. He immediately helped settle the boy into the seat beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. 

The boy was followed by two other boys, even younger, which were then followed by the last passenger, a harrowed looking teenage girl who sat on Anita’s side and pulled the boys close. Anita wanted to reach out and help them in some way but there wasn’t enough room to move around like that. As soon as the girl grabbed them, the boys sagged into her arms and cried. The quiet wails were so forlorn and so wrong to come from children that it was difficult to bear; it was raw emotion unfurling in the wake of tragedy, a palpable sorrow that suffocated. Anita felt Saul almost go haywire in her arms, all anxious energy and fretfulness.

He pushed his stuffed toy towards the closest boy, insisting, “It’s okay! It’s a dinosaur, she can help!”

The little boy was slow to move but reached out and accepted the toy, squeezing the velvet plush tight. As soon as the boy took it, Saul was reaching for his other dinosaur, hesitating for a beat before offering it to the other child who had turned to look at him, “It’s Dolphin! You can borrow him.”

The teenage girl had enough of her wits together to smile at Saul and thank him. But the horror of the situation continued to unfold. Shiro hadn’t been able to stay still either, he had pushed off Clara’s lap and had sat on the other side of the older boy, quietly keeping him company. No child should have a thousand-yard stare but all of those kids did. Their scents carried the unpleasant sourness of grief.

Lance who had been preoccupied talking to his bondmate, slid the door shut and crouched down between the seats, speaking quietly to their guests. Anita saw how the kids were drawn to him, how he soothed and reassured them. He was the sane grown-up that promised safety. Lance pulled out blankets from cargo storage and wrapped them around the kids’ shoulders with care. He was so good at caregiving. 

In fact, his entire family were naturals. Anita thought of how Clara so simply accepted the loss of her cherished cycler for the sake of strangers. And it was because of her and her family that Marcelo was on his way to an event he could only hope to attend through a stroke of lottery luck. Clara’s mom was mindful of Anita and Marcelo and took care to reassure them before laying chase to the caravan the way few others would. Even Clara’s brothers were inspiring with how they seemed to have forgotten themselves over the needs of their guests.

This told Anita a lot about Clara’s parents. She knew that she was in the company of good people. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next short chapter wraps up the 'En Route' piece of Family Vacation. Thank you so much for reading! You're like the wind beneath my wings?!? :D


	6. En Route Incident 06

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their initial plans of towing the other cars back to the skyline changed when the Special Patrol fleet car arrived at the scene. They watched as the imposing black and white armored vehicle came to a stop above them, hovering ominously for some time as if to pass judgment. (e.g. conclusion of the En Route part of the fic)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ongoing big thanks to Madoshi for the beta :) No warnings!

Their initial plans of towing the other cars back to the skyline changed when the Special Patrol fleet car arrived at the scene. They watched as the imposing black and white armored vehicle came to a stop above them, hovering ominously for some time as if to pass judgment. It was a logical conclusion that the authorities would show up and take control of the scene. Still, Anita felt uneasy as she glanced at the kids they had rescued.

The teen girl - Lisa - had told them that the driver was her mother and the child who had been pushed was her brother. From what Anita could gather, it sounded like her mom had just snapped. She felt so bad for her and the kids and the whole situation. Anita couldn’t even imagine what it would be like if she had been in her shoes. 

The patrol car began to move again; it landed on the outside of the other car, disturbing the waters enough for the cars to rock in its wake. 

“What are they gonna do?” asked Clara. She was frowning; the same thoughts were probably running through her head.

“Mami’s in contact with them,” Lance answered, quietly. He was scrolling through a communications panel, presumably exchanging text messages with Keith. “They’re going to apprehend the driver. Mami will join us after that.”

Anita watched the trap and tow guides materialize over the rogue car. From her viewpoint, she could see the top half of the hatch mechanism roll back for both cars, which meant they had slid the doors open. The dark tint of the windows and the body of the rogue car blocked the rest of the view. Keith or maybe the driver herself did not want them to watch. The car began to bob slightly as if the occupants were moving around. 

“Where are they taking her?” said Lisa, there was so much anxiety and grief wrapped up in her tone. 

Anita felt so bad for her. Lisa had told them that they had been on the way to the same cycler exhibition and that the occupants of the other cars were her friends and teammates from a Junior Robotics league. Her mom had agreed to chaperone. Lisa asked if they knew anything about what happened to her brother but fortunately, Lance took the reins before anyone could react and make things worse. 

Anita was thankful that she did not have to figure out what to say or do, it was agonizing already as it was. Clara’s dad had taken the girl’s hand and revealed quietly, “Lisa...your brother did not survive that fall, I’m sorry.” He had squeezed her hand, “This is going to be a very tough time but you’re not alone. You got your family who needs you now more than ever.”

Her eyes had welled up and she was nodding but her expression had crumpled to guilt-stricken despair. Lance had pulled her into a hug which she clung to for some time.

Now, Lance advised, “They’ll head towards the closest One World enforcement center. Your uncle has been contacted and he’s on his way for you. We’re going to take you to the nearest rest satellite.”

Just then, they saw the driver side passenger door of the incapacitated vehicle slide open revealing Clara’s mom. Lance steered the car closer and with a press on the dashboard, opened the front passenger door. Anita watched Keith jump the gap between the cars with ease as Shiro and Saul called out for him. He smiled reassuringly at them as he grabbed a towel Lance offered. 

“You’re okay!” Keith said to his sons as he scrubbed. 

As expected, Keith looked like someone that had jumped out of a vehicle moving over water. His hair was soaked and partly loose from its low ponytail. His clothes were drenched and there was a rip on his shirt as if it got caught on something even though he did not look injured. Whatever weapon he was carrying was nowhere in sight, although he still wore the tech bracelet. 

“Kitten.” His bondmate said and he flashed him a brief smile; some kind of look passing between the two.

He was quick to kiss Shiro and Saul and squeeze into the back to check in on their guests. Clara’s mom was a man of few words with strangers it seemed, but his gaze was constantly intense and focused as if he always gave his all to whoever had his attention. She had the sense that he was fully present at all times and constantly observing his environment. Anita understood that because she was a watcher too. It kind of came with the territory when you’re used to looking out for yourself or loved ones. 

Keith kept his eyes on the older boy that had not said anything to anyone. Marcelo had his arm around him. He sat as if he were by his lonesome, unaware of the surrounding world, near catatonic. Keith crouched down in front of him the way Lance did earlier but stayed silent. Anita realized that his vibe was different. The long gaze Keith had on the boy seemed to carry a quiet acceptance of the moment; sharing the boy’s pain instead of attempting to assuage it. 

It was the first time that the boy seemed to notice anyone. He stirred, eyes moving across Keith’s face slowly before meeting his gaze.

“How old are you?” asked Keith. 

The response was slow and barely above a whisper, “Eight.” 

Keith nodded. He reached for the corners of the blanket that was around the boy and tucked him in more securely. His hands lingered on the ends of the blanket as he confided, “Sometimes, terrible things happen no matter what you do or don’t do. They’re the things that shape you. There is no wrong way to feel about it.”

Clara’s mom swept his fingers through the boy’s bangs once. He added, “You live through it.

“And what happened was not your fault.” He twisted to look at Lisa and the other two boys. “Any of you.”

After a beat, he stood back up, gaze sweeping across everyone else before moving back to the front. The outlandish things she had witnessed from him seemed impossible. Like something in the realm of tall tales and action/adventure movies but with an air of authenticity that no fairy tale could quite capture. It was all done with aplomb by a young omega mom of three kids.

It made Anita wonder at the sort of life he and Clara’s dad have led. What kind of things did he do at war? Was he some sort of spy? Clara’s parents weren’t of the born in privilege variety. Either that or something extreme had happened in their lives for them to have such a unique outlook.

She shook her head in disbelief and tucked her hand in the crook of Clara’s arm. They had all rearranged themselves as they helped out their guests.

“Are you guys a bunch of ninja aliens?” Anita whispered.

Her friend smiled at her briefly, “Yeah.”

Anita nodded.

“Um. About Marcelo…” Clara began awkwardly and with terrible timing. Well maybe not. The mood felt intimate and raw, like a time for confessions.

“I can hear you,” said Marcelo shortly, shutting her up.

\--- 

The trip back was uneventful. They treaded water for the most part. It turned out that it was the quiet before the storm.

The first hint that this was becoming a major international story was when they were back in stream service range. Marcelo had tucked himself close to Anita, pulling his vid out to catch any news. The trending hits were all in reference to the incident on the international skylines. All cars on the skyline would capture video of their surroundings but shockingly the videos of Clara’s parents’ car were not true to reality. They showcased a samaritan car, a completely different car and model, taking off in pursuit of the caravan.

Anita exchanged uneasy looks with her brother but kept it to herself. She felt even more unsettled when Marcelo tried to playback the video he captured but it was corrupted.

A police line made of a variety of standard and state of the art vehicles met them before the media had truly begun to arrive at the scene. They were escorted towards the satellite where projected rescue barricades were already up to enforce privacy upon their arrival. Rescue services made their way to the back passenger shortly thereafter to evaluate the victims. Lisa and her family were quickly ushered out of the car, barely giving them a chance to exchange hurried heartfelt hugs and thank yous (Saul said goodbye to the little boys and to Dolphin.) 

Anita caught sight of other kids in emergency vehicles. She thought she recognized them from the previously tethered cars. They all had some difficult times ahead.

Clara’s mom and dad spoke to One World detectives while the media circus swarmed the rest site. Drones buzzed around the area, invasive and unwelcome, just like disease-inducing mosquitos except with blinking red lights. Civilians had descended down to the barricades that One World Enforcement had lined up. Passed that, the skyline was crowded with very few lanes moving. Anita suspected many onlookers had swapped to manual and were watching the scene.

Thankfully, the entire visible segment of the skyline became opaque. Once Clara’s parents gave their accounts to the detectives, they settled back into the front seats and took off, covertly separating from the law enforcement vehicles and rejoining traffic for the skylines ramp. They were back in the honeycomb, unnoticed by the media who had focused on the rescued vehicles and misidentified other cars as the good samaritans. From what Anita could tell, the eyewitness interviews were doing a good job further muddling the real details. 

Once they were back on hook, Keith and Lance were moving. Shiro and Saul nearly knocked over their mom as they scurried into his arms. He had a big indulgent smile as they fussed over him.

“Mami.” Saul implored, clinging to his shirt. “You’re wet!”

“Mmhm. Help me?” Keith offered him a small towel which he grabbed and got to work.

His older son was a ball of worked up energy, bouncing off his mom and grabbing onto his dad’s upper arm.

“You’re not supposed to jump out of cars!” Shiro said as if insulted by the behavior.

“You’re right.” Keith chuckled, “It was an emergency, Shiro.”

Lance snorted, “Don’t get any ideas, Shiro, that was a once in a lifetime kind of emergency.”

“Yes, it was.” Added Keith, “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have jumped. And I definitely wouldn’t have granted admin access to anyone since that means that I now have to get aunt Pidge to review the permissions for any hacks.”

He had not looked away from Shiro, yet Anita felt Clara stiffen beside her.

“I would be very disappointed if someone were to take advantage of an emergency and modify their permissioning in any way. I would have to ground the culprit for life.” Keith said very casually.

Clara sighed dramatically and materialized a window as her mom and dad smirked at each other.

“You know I will follow through on aunt Pidge, right?” Keith said, looking at her when she closed the panel.

She blushed and rematerialized the window.

Keith snorted and shook his head, “Clara.”

“What? I didn’t do anything!”

“Is that just a catch-phrase of yours?” Her dad inquired, eyebrows raised, “I think it’s a catch-phrase.”

“Ugh. Papi, I mean… I didn’t do anything. I’m just checking things!”

“You think I was born yesterday? Wack!” 

She sighed, “Not this again,” as Shiro whined, “Papi, noooo. Erk!” His dad had grabbed him by the shoulders and began raining down loud kisses on his cheek. “No, no, no!”

He screwed his eyes shut, nose wrinkled, and flung his arm out in search of his little brother. As soon as he found him, he hauled him close and threw him under the bus. “Kiss Saul, instead!” Anita smiled because Lance kept kissing unabated though included Saul in the mix who squawked, “No!” then laughed and tried to climb his dad as if conquering a mountain.

In the meanwhile, Keith got back up and motioned for some space between Clara and Anita who obliged him. His scent was still very nice; more so, now that Anita had grown so fond of him in the short span that she had known him. He took both their hands in his and eyed Anita with that scrutinizing look then his daughter as he confided, “I wish the two of you hadn’t seen that stream.”

For a hot minute, Anita wished so badly that he was her mom, too, and that she was part of this family, but instantly felt guilty as if she had abandoned her own mom who has worked so hard for the three of them. It was just that she had never felt so at ease and welcomed by an adult who wasn’t weighing her down with their expectations; she felt as if she had been seamlessly accepted into the inner life of her friend’s unconventional family. 

“It’s okay Mr. Alvarez.”

He smiled briefly at her then turned his attention to his daughter who smiled at him much more softly than Anita was used to seeing, “Yeah, that was bad but I’m okay.”

“Okay. I know you worked really hard on your cycler.”

She half-shrugged. “It’s okay, it was an emergency. We saved people.”

He kissed the side of her forehead. “We can do something else instead of the cycler race.”

“No,” She shook her head, “I still wanna be at the race. I want to see all the cyclers.”

“Okay. You’re getting extra ice cream for this.”   
  
She snorted, smiling. “Infomercials, mami. Nothing but infomercials lay ahead for you.”

“Is it right though?” Marcelo butted in, out of the blue; he had his arms folded and had been looking down at his lap lost in his thoughts. He looked up at Clara, conflicted. “To keep going like nothing happened?”

“We do what we can to help those in need, Marcelo,” Lance answered, smiling down at Anita’s brother. “But when the inevitable happens, we keep living. Because tragic and sad things are everywhere, reminding us that life is precious. It’s more reason to go find happiness or make happiness any which way you can. Life is short. Live on behalf of the dead.”

Marcelo frowned and looked away, mulling his words. To Anita, it made a whole lot of sense. The kids did not seem surprised or unsettled at all by their dad’s words. Maybe this lesson was instilled in them some time ago.

Beside her, Keith nudged his daughter’s arm. “I’m proud of you.”

She gave a bit of a depressed sigh but actually seemed okay as she nodded. Her mom gave her another kiss and squeezed her and her friend’s hands before pulling away. Anita noticed that Marcelo started smiling at Clara. It was a very different smile than before everything that happened and when Clara glanced at him, she turned red and looked away smiling too. She kept not looking at him when he took the seat her mom vacated. Kept not looking when he kissed her cheek and kept kissing her cheek.

“You missed a spot.” She said when he pulled away. 

Marcelo laughed, “Dork.” And started kissing her again. 

She had turned completely pink.

“Papi, why is Marcelo kissing Clara?” Shiro asked, flabbergasted. He had managed to escape his dad’s grasp and looked heavily put out by the scene in front of him.

“Shiro, mind your own nose.”

His mouth twisted, clearly unsatisfied with this answer. When he looked at his dad, Anita was sure he was going to argue or ask more questions. Instead, he said, “...I have to pee again.”

Lance sighed then seemed distracted by his bondmate who had fetched a snack bag from one of the cargo bays and was shoving almonds down by the handful. Keith eyed him back undisturbed as he grabbed his own water bottle and chugged it down. He then grabbed Lance’s bottle and offered it to him, smirking, “Want a drink?”

“Of pee? No, thanks.”

“Pee is sterile.”

Clara’s dad simply kept staring at him in silence.

“What?” Keith kept smirking, “I rinsed it out on our last stop.”

Lance snorted. “That’s  _ your _ water bottle now.”

He then turned to add the nearest rest stop to their inputted route.

The rest of the skyline travel was uneventful apart from the alarming shades of red Clara managed any time Marcelo mocked her and then stunned her with a kiss halfway through her answering taunt. Anita brought them both down a notch by mercilessly mocking their lovebird scents.

  
Anita had a feeling this day was like a watershed, clearly dividing her life into 'before' and 'after'. Nothing really changed, but everything seemed new and unfamiliar, a fresh start. She also felt laid bare, as if her broadening horizons somehow left her vulnerable. But then, she also felt braver, not afraid of anything her future might hold. Even if it included an impending shitstorm with her mother the moment she found out about Marcelo and Clara. Anita would be ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for the En Route part of the fic! I will touch a little bit more on what happened/what caused the tragic outcome for that family in later chapters. I really hope this was a good read for you and that you enjoyed. Thank you so much! :)


	7. Shiro! (1 of 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro groaned. He wasn’t sleepy, why the heck was everybody else so tired?! What’s wrong with them?! He glared up at the sky roof and bit down on his bottom lip. This was the longest, most boringest trip Shiro has ever had in his life. (e.g. We hear from Shiro! :D)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings! Same thanks as previous notes! :D

Shiro had dropped down so his upper back and head were on his sister’s lap, and his arms were flung out to the sides, legs akimbo. He stared at her; studied the shape of her nostrils and how her chest rose and fell steadily, her head leaning heavily on Marcelo’s shoulder. She was fast asleep just like everyone else in the back. Just maybe, if he talked about cyclers, she would wake up.

“Clara…” He wheedled, a fussy plaintive noise.

“Shut up.” She didn’t even open her eyes this time.

Shiro wrigged his foot under Saul’s arm as he asked, “Are you going to buy a new cycler?”

He waited patiently but no answer was forthcoming.

“Clara.”

“Clara, are you gonna buy a new cycler?” He tried again.

“Clara.” Shiro tapped her arm.

“Clara.”

“How are you going to race when you don’t have a cycler?”

Maybe she was going to get another junkyard cycler. If so, he would really like to go with her. There was a lot of cool stuff at junkyards. Last time he managed to climb the tallest metal stacking frame and reach the top before Clara started scrambling around looking for him. He thought she would calm down once he yelled back so she knew where he was, but instead when she spotted him she got even crazier, flailing around and telling him not to move. 

“Can I go with you to the junkyard? I promise I won’t move! Not even breathe!”

He got nothing. Nobody was talking. They all might as well have been dead. Shiro groaned. He wasn’t sleepy, why the heck was everybody else so tired?! What’s wrong with them?! He glared up at the sky roof and bit down on his bottom lip. This was the longest, most boringest trip Shiro has ever had in his life.

“How much longer?!” He yelled causing everyone to groan and shift in their seats.

“Shiro…” Even his dad was snoozing,  _ ugh _ . “Why don’t you come up here and nap with me? Or with mami?” 

“I’m not sleepy. Are we close yet?!”

They had to be close by now!

“Not yet.”

“Papiiiiiii… arrrrghh… how much longer...” He rolled over and dropped into the footwell, groaning into the floorboard liners. Ow. Oh! Shiro popped up, hand over his mouth. One of his baby teeth was knocked loose. He perked up; at least that was interesting. Shiro prodded the tooth with his tongue until it fell right out.

“Papi, look!” he said brightly. 

“Shiro,” sighed his dad. “I downloaded a few vids, why don’t- Shiro!” 

He seemed to startle at the bloody tooth Shiro dropped in his lap and looked back at him, eyes wide. Shiro watched him back expectantly with high hopes that something exciting would happen or he would get some sort of award. Instead, his dad simply looked at him like he was holding back laughter. 

“That’s another one. Here.” He said offering him a napkin. Shiro’s face dropped. Was that it?! Arrghh. He balled up the napkin and stuffed it in his mouth and flung himself over his dad’s lap, grunting.

“Bored.” He said, muffled. His voice actually sounded interesting through the paper, he grabbed some more from the console and started shoving them into his mouth when suddenly he felt hands under his arms. The next thing he knew, Shiro was redirected past the center console and wedged between the front passenger door and his mom. Uh oh. Even though his mom’s scent never really moved from ‘happy’ when it came to Shiro and his brother, he didn’t let them get away with things as easy as his dad (mom’s scent got  _ really _ crazy with Clara and his dad sometimes but it would go back pretty quickly.)

Shiro kept eye contact as he spat out as much of the napkins as possible and swallowed the rest of the fibers that got stuck.

“What are you doing?”

Shiro thought about it. “Nothing?” He was pretty sure he hadn’t done anything, he racked his head for something to confess.

“Baby, you’re making it hard for everyone to sleep.”

His mom had calmly collected his mottled bloodied garbage and tipped his head back to examine the new gap in his mouth. Shiro helped him out by tugging his upper lip out of the way with his finger and poking at the gap with his tongue. 

“Right here! See?” He said, muffled.

“Stop poking it, you need to let it clot.”

Shiro let go of his lip and sighed, depressed. He wasn’t allowed to do anything.

“Mami…” He whined.

His mom tugged him close, gently bumping their temples together as he presented him with his tablet. 

“How about you write a letter to Camilo? You can keep him posted about the trip.”

Oh! Shiro hadn’t thought of that. His mom’s tablet was nice, too. It felt good in his hands; he squeezed it, watching the screen come to life and swap over to his settings. The screen projected to a big, colorful static panel that he ran his hands over, enjoying the slightly buzzy feedback. He launched the storytelling app and grinned for a snapshot of him and his mom which he added to his greeting.

_ Hi Camilo [picture with mami] _

Shiro thought about his day so far and what Camilo would like to know. He hoped he was having a better time than him.

_ How are you? I’m very bored. I lost a tooth! [bloody tooth picture] There was a lot of screaming earlier and Papi said ‘shit!’ because Lisa’s brother did not survive I tried to make Alex feel better he is 8 too but he was very sad. [sad emoticon] I sat next to him to make him feel better but I don’t think it worked so good. Do you have any ideas for what I should do for next time? I would love to know. It would be a big help! Anyway, before that we flew sideways!!!! Because we had to save Lisa, Alex, and Jacob, and David from the bad guy who was actually Lisa’s mom!! [stunned emoticon] But I didn’t scream and mami jumped out of the car and Marcelo KISSED Clara ew. I was so scared and Saul was crying _

Shiro felt his mom — who had closed his eyes once he launched the storyteller — stiffen beside him.

“Shiro.”

Shiro looked up and caught his mom giving him some kind of wide-eyed look which he wasn’t sure what it meant, but his scent was the same as when he was laughing hard, so Shiro grinned.

“Shiro, let’s work on that letter.”

Shiro looked down at his written piece. What? It looked pretty good to him. Plenty of action. He would add volcano fire and cycler spinouts and tidal wave animations to pep it up. Oh, he did forget to add flying over the ocean outside of the skyline. Camilo would definitely like that.

“Uhmm.” He said thoughtfully and backtracked in his story to insert more details. He read it out loud as he wrote it, “There was this big red hole in the skyline and papi loopdelooped through it and made us go upside down because he was hurrying to catch Lisa’s mom (the bad guy!!!) and-”

He couldn’t write anymore because his mom took his hands in his own and gently held his fingers.

“Shiro.” He said in a hushed tone like he was about to share a secret just between the two of them. That was great! Shiro leaned in, feeling very special that his mom would confide in him. “This kind of thing is… is sensitive. You have to be careful sometimes on what you share with others or how you share it with them. Think about Lisa and her family and how they would feel if they read your story.”

Shiro frowned thoughtfully, rereading his handiwork.

“How would you feel if what happened to Lisa’s brother happened to Clara or Saul?”

Clara not surviving? Yes, please take her away. Although she was really cool sometimes. And Saul? He was annoying only a little bit and he laughed really hard at his jokes. He definitely didn’t want anything to happen to Saul. Okay, Shiro would have to make some edits. He supposed starting off with screaming might make Camilo worry and maybe papi didn’t want him to know how much of a pottymouth he was. Shiro would be gracious and give his dad a break this time.

He leaned past his mom to fix his dad with his most disappointed look. Fortunately, his dad was awake and already watching him so that made it easy to address the problem right away. 

“Papi, you said a bad word again.” He admonished. “I won’t tell Camilo but you have to cut down on that bad habit of yours because it’s very disrespectful.” His teacher would be proud. “I don’t do it. Mami doesn’t do it…” And there goes his mom’s scent again, why was he always laughing on the inside?? Shiro shook his head, refusing to be distracted. “Next time hold your breath and count to ten. It helps.” 

He wasn’t sure if his dad looked properly ashamed but he saw his mouth working wordlessly a few times.

“Yeah, Lance. Be more like me.” His mom backed him up. Good.

“Wow, Keith. Yes, I will try my best to be silent and surly like you. What was I thinking. My deepest apologies, Shiro.”

Shiro nodded. Still, he might share the news with Camilo when no one was around. Camilo would laugh so hard at screaming and cursing. That was just too good not to share.

_ How are you? I was very bored before but now I’m okay. I lost a tooth! [bloody tooth picture] It only hurt a little bit. [smiley emoticon]. Something scary happened, I can’t talk about it because it would be mean but we are all okay! Papi is working hard on not cursing. He only messed up once. Did you beat the level yet? _

Shiro’s mind wandered from that stream game he and Camilo had been working so hard on to Lisa and her brother. Papi said Lisa’s brother did not survive. What did that mean exactly?

“Did Lisa’s brother die?”

He felt his mom nod, “Yes.”

Shiro swallowed. He didn’t like thinking about death but he knew everybody dies and there’s no use worrying about it or worrying others about it. His parents told him it’s nothing to be afraid of, it just makes it more important to live happily while there’s a chance.

“How did he die?”

“His mom pushed him out of their jetcar.”

“On purpose?!” Shiro asked, alarmed.

“It looked like it, Shiro.”

He paled, suddenly very aware of the fact that he was sitting between the door and his mother. Before he could ask anything else his mom threw his other arm around him and pressed a kiss on his head.

“You’re safe.”

He sighed and nodded. “Why did his mom do that?”

“I don’t know, baby. We don’t know for sure.”

That wasn’t very comforting. Shiro discreetly wriggled even closer to his mom as he studied his tablet. He imagined the boy being pushed out by his very own mom. That was so scary. Moms aren’t supposed to do bad things like that. They’re supposed to feed you and ask about your day and kiss you and glare at everyone.

_ How are you? I was very bored before but now I’m sad. I lost a tooth! [bloody tooth picture] It only hurt a little bit. [smiley emoticon]. I met new friends: Lisa, Alex, Jacob, and David but I didn’t meet Lisa’s brother. That is why I’m sad. He died because of his mami and I never got to meet him. He could have been best friends with us! Papi flew really fast over the ocean and loopdelooped [loopdeloop picture] to catch Lisa’s mami. Papi also said poop because he doesn’t say bad words (more on that later I promise!) and mami jumped out of the car! Don’t worry he jumped back in later. By the way I hope you beat that level but wait for when I come back for the next one! Marcelo is gonna have a baby I think. _

He thought about that. His own mom got really round and extra sweaty when he was pregnant. He was always sitting and munching on crunchy things that his dad supplied him with. Shiro wasn’t sure if Clara was up to such a task. His eyebrows darted up. If Marcelo would get pregnant… 

“Am I going to be an uncle?”

Huh, several scents shot up.

“That’s a no!” said Marcelo. “At least if you’re counting on Clara!”

“Shiro!” responded Clara, then she seemed to sputter, distracted. “Wait. What are you trying to say?!” she asked Marcelo.

“I’m not  _ trying _ to say anything. I said exactly what I wanted to say very successfully.”

“It sounded a whole lot like you think it’s impossible for me to have a kid! Plenty of people would love to have a kid with me!”

“Yeah, who?! Your dog?”

“I don’t have a dog! Dogs aren’t people!”

“So not even a dog then.”

“What dog? Why are you talking about dogs?! You realize that you kissed me!” She accused.

“No, I didn’t.”

“What?! Yes, you did!”

“I don’t recall.” Marcelo scoffed.

Shiro backspaced on his letter and made a correction.

_ Marcelo is definitely having a baby. Marcelo and Clara fight like mami and papi. I think I’ll make a very good uncle! I’ll get Marcelo crunchy things and I will babysit even for free. Do you want to babysit with me? Answer yes or no on your reply back, please. _

He looked up at his mom who was wide awake now and reading his letter with great interest. He had a big smile on his face. Well, big smile for him anyway.

Shiro was slightly worried that his letter might be boring so he advised his mom, “I was gonna add a car chase loop and fireballs.” He paused, thoughtfully. “And a crying baby. And a flower for Lisa and Alex and Jacob and David.”

“You think me and papi fight?”

Shiro fixed his mom with a look and threw his hand up in disbelief. “Only like all the time?”

He heard extra snickering and narrowed his eyes at his dad while his mom gave him another kiss. Why were both his parents laughing? It’s the truth. Grown-ups made no sense sometimes. He wrapped up his letter.

_ Do your parents laugh for no reason? [shoulder shrug emoticon] [confused emoticon] _

_ Love, Shiro [bloody tooth picture] _

“That’s a very good letter. Very entertaining.”

Shiro smiled, pleased to hear it and supremely satisfied with himself. “Thanks, I know.”

He worked on chopping up his letter into a storyboard which included many tasteful fireballs that adorned a few of the screens and the best car chase loop he could find to insert next to the appropriate section. By the time he was done and looked around, everyone was asleep again. Shiro groaned and fidgeted. His dad had his seat reclined and had his younger brother resting on his chest, also fast asleep. 

Maybe he can sneak over and check if dad was really sleeping. He wanted to show him his masterpiece.

His mami stirred and squeezed him tight, trapping him just as he was sliding out of his seat. He reached for the tablet which piqued Shiro’s interests. He watched in fascination as the settings changed based on his mom’s biosignature. If only the screen would stay put when he touched it, then Shiro would poke at all the different apps. They all looked boring but he would prefer to confirm for himself. He watched as his mom scrolled through the vid options and selected one about his favorite superhero. Ooh, it wasn’t one he had seen before.

He settled in, eager to watch. He just needed something to munch on.

“Mami, can I please have some almonds?

He liked almonds. He wondered idly if maybe Lisa, Alex, Jacob and David liked almonds too. He froze. They had been so upset. Maybe he could write them a letter too and tell them that things were going to be okay. If Lisa’s brother had been anything like him, he wouldn’t want them to cry. He would make sure they knew that there were a lot of good things in life that they should do for him since he couldn’t do it anymore. Like tell jokes and write stories and laugh with friends and eat a lot of almonds for example. He would want them to be happy.

“Mami, can I write another letter instead?”

His mom smiled, stopping the vid. “Sure.”

Shiro got to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you had a laugh and that you enjoyed! :))


	8. Shiro! (2 of 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Welcome to Bright Star Resort, may I help you?” The grown up’s eyes had been affixed to her screen before looking up at Shiro’s mom. After that her smile seemed to freeze on her face somehow. (e.g. Shiro's narrative continues. Also, Keith cannot catch a break. :D)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings and same thanks!

After some more hours during which nothing happened (felt like  _ days _ ) and there had only been one break — a stop at a rest satellite where Shiro shot out of the car, ran across a sandy meadow as fast as he could, clambered through a domed monkey bar set, burst through an interactive play stage and hurled himself into a round spinning rope swing — they reached their destination.

Shiro scrubbed his eyes and looked blearily at the lively activity around him that had woken him up. He was somehow back in his original seat, strapped in between Clara and Saul. His little brother was kicking his feet beside him and tucking into a sandwich as was everyone else in the back. He could smell coffee and pineapple juice. There was morning light coming through the windows.

“Can I have one?” asked Shiro groggily, clearing his throat as he eyed Clara’s cold cuts sandwich. 

Clara reached for a bag he hadn’t seen before and pulled a wrapped sandwich, wordlessly handing it to him before slinging an arm over his shoulders. Eating was a trial as he kept dozing off while chewing, but the exhaustion vanished once he caught sight of the view outside the front windshield. The skyline’s blue tunnels were gone and replaced by endless loops of traffic which appeared to criss-cross each other in the sky. There were all kinds of flying vehicles from small delivery drones to multi-colored double-decker airbuses zooming in and out of view. 

“Wow!”

So many cars! Shiro had never seen more than two levels of traffic other than in the One World skyline where, apart from the exits, the travel routes were mostly incoming and outgoing straight paths.

Both his parents glanced at him from the rearview screen. His mom kept eyeing him in disbelief.

“Shiro, you haven’t slept much at all.”

Shiro busied himself by looking away and shoving most of his sandwich in his mouth. “I slept.” He muttered. He didn’t want his mom on his case since he would hold him hostage and make him pretend to sleep until Shiro actually fell asleep. Such a waste of time. Shiro would rather never ever sleep and spend the time making new friends or discovering cool stuff. He avoided any further eye contact with mom or dad and focused on Saul and Anita who were coloring together. 

He couldn’t resist offering some coloring tips although he did it quietly so his parents would hopefully not pay any attention to him. Too bad he couldn’t keep looking at the big city past them. He settled for looking out the back passenger windows, watching what he could from his middle seat and gawking at towering buildings whizzing by.

Shiro managed to avoid any further unhappy interruptions apart from being pestered into a light jacket. They arrived at a tall multi-story hotel that had scrolling marquees in the front stating ‘Bright Star Resort’ where his dad parked the car in a very crowded parking lot. 

As the family gathered their belongings, Shiro wriggled into his bookbag and turned and lost his breath, eyes wide because for him the skies had parted and a beam from paradise had illuminated the best thing in the universe ever. Beyond the trees and past the gleaming glass of the hotel, he spotted the biggest pool he had ever seen in his life and it had _ water slides _ . Wondrous, colorful slides that looked like fanciful coiling pipes leading down into sparkling blue water. 

He gasped. No one had told him that they were heading to heaven on Earth!

“MAMI! MA-erk!” His mom had grabbed his hand, “Later, Shiro. C’mon,” and was dragging him away from the vision before him. Shiro might’ve been internally screaming just a little?! He had to update Camilo asap!

“So many water slides!” He whispered reverently, craning to glimpse as much of the indoor pool as he could until his sister stuck her hand on his scalp and manually rotated his head forward so he would watch where he was going. Shiro grinned in excitement — water slides were in his future!! He hoped. He really hoped. He would beg his dad and not his mom whose scent was in a no-nonsense mode which would ruin his prospects. He was in a daze for the rest of the short walk until he realized he had reached a front desk with his mom.

He looked back, noticing that Clara and the rest of the family hung back talking among themselves. Hopefully, his mom would get a room that was in the same direction as the pool. Shiro swung back and stood on his toes to peer over the front desk at reception. He wished he wasn’t so short, everyone always thought he was younger than he was. 

“Welcome to Bright Star Resort, may I help you?” The grown up’s eyes had been affixed to her screen before looking up at Shiro’s mom. After that her smile seemed to freeze on her face somehow. 

“Hello. We have reservations. Keith Alvarez.”

Shiro noticed that her beta scent had soured while his mom was talking. He frowned worriedly and looked at his mom to see if he could spot the problem. His mom was carrying two duffel bags, the straps overtop an oversized t-shirt that was hanging off his shoulder. It was one he borrowed from his dad after jumping back into the car. His hair was tied back in a loose ponytail and was a mass of flyaways. There wasn’t anything on his face and his pants were hidden behind the shirt so if his fly was open it wouldn’t be visible. Shiro couldn’t find what was wrong and looked back at the beta.

“One moment, please.” She said and resumed her typing. Shiro was waiting patiently, chin resting on the hand he had propped on the desk when he caught the scent of another omega grown-up coming near and turned in time to spot another family arrive and get in line behind them. 

The mom was very neatly dressed and looked important somehow, like a big-time visitor that Shiro would fold his hands neatly for in school because the teachers told everyone to be on their best behavior. She had not stopped behind them but rather went up to the front desk as well and spoke to the beta, stating, “We’re the Leila Sousa reservation. You should have been informed.”

Shiro was distracted by the rest of the scene behind the lady. There were several standalone front desks across the lobby, each with other grownups checking in and there were a few kids too which made Shiro so happy. Hopefully, he would get to go to the pool and see all the kids and meet them. 

Shiro turned back to the rest of the family behind them and eyed them with interest. Beside the mom, there was a female alpha, just as sharply dressed, as well as a younger child who had her headphones on. Shiro smiled cheerfully and waved at the little girl but when she noticed him she merely stared back. 

Front desk and the other mom engaged in conversation until Shiro heard —

“Excuse me.” His mom said very firmly. “Check us in. Please.”

“Sir, I will be with you momentarily,” said the woman. A tall man in a crisp uniform stepped out of a backroom and rushed to join the front desk lady. They both scented like betas. Both were smiling keenly at the important customer.

He saw his mom bite his lip and noticed that his scent had soured. That was usually followed by some calm warning words that Shiro would hurry to appease. He was glad he wasn’t the target right now.

“If you get us out of your hair, you can spend the rest of your time accommodating her needs. Check us in.” He paused. “Please.”

His mom might as well had farted with the way everyone looked at him. Shiro frowned, not understanding the problem. It sounded perfectly reasonable!

“Please remain calm, honey,” cooed the tall beta. “We will serve you shortly.” 

Shiro leaned into his mom, not liking the way all the scents shifted around him. Uh oh. A familiar crazy scent arose from Shiro’s mom. The other mom was smiling but it was a cruel smile that reminded him of Jorge, a bully that bugged him and Camilo and his other friends sometimes.

“Check us in. Now.” said his mom, sharply. “The Leila Sousa reservation can wait their turn like everyone else.”

The fancy lady chuckled, “How cute. Is this your first time at a resort like this one? It must be a novel experience to hobnob with people of class and their children. I—”

She got cut off. 

“A room please.” 

His mom had talked right over the fancy lady without even looking at her as if she hadn’t opened her mouth. Maybe he hadn’t heard her? The dad, an even fancier lady, had stepped up to the front desk as well which made it feel so much more crowded since Shiro’s dad wandered up casually and also joined them. Shiro swung around, curious as to what the girl was up to but found she was still staring at him, not moving. He tried waving again but that didn’t seem to move her one bit. Shiro frowned. His own dad took his hand and pulled him to his side.

“I was speaking to you,” said the fancy lady.

“I’m not interested in participating in your soap opera.” That was his mom. He had turned at last to address the lady but turned back just as fast. “I’m here to check in and move on.”

“Sir, we understand your concern.” The tall beta interrupted and gestured to his colleague, “Jun here will assist you if you will step to the side—”

“I hope you are not considering honoring this man’s reservation,” said the fancy lady, offended. 

Shiro’s mom turned right back around and snapped, “This is a kid-friendly resort and not the presidential palace on a private island that you’re imagining.”

Oh no. Now Shiro grew worried. Were they going to lose their room? He really wanted to visit the pool! And he’d rather not spend more time sleeping in the car. He tapped at his dad urgently to get his attention and offer some tips on getting out of trouble (apologizing!).

“Is a man such as this—” the lady’s lip curled as she gestured at Shiro’s mom as if he were rotting in place before her, “—suited for this establishment? I should hope not!”

“Ma’am.” Said the tall beta immediately and looked at Shiro’s dad. “Sir, please endeavor on—”

“Your omega is out of control.” The other alpha dad spoke for the first time. She sounded very cool and collected. Authoritative.

Shiro stopped tapping and looked at her, puzzled, then checked his mom again. Did mami do something very wrong? None of the grownups scented so great at the moment. How much trouble were they in?

“Hey, you’re out of control.” 

The way his dad said that to his mom made Shiro breathe out in relief. It was so very teasing and relaxed just the way he would say things on weekends when cooking breakfast while mom smiled into his coffee cup. 

“Fu— udge you and fudge off.”

Papi shrugged and kept smiling, “He seems pretty in control. Shiro, go to—” 

“You should be ashamed of yourself.”

His dad’s smile broadened, even more, when he looked back at the other mom. “No, thanks?” He then turned to Jun, “Could we get our room please?” 

Oh no. Big mistake. It’s ‘ _ may _ we’ not  _ ‘could _ we’. Everyone was going to get even angrier!

“Jun.” Said the tall beta, stopping her from accessing the screen. He looked at the other mom and dad and seemed to have made up his mind. Shiro’s heart sank when he heard the man say to his dad, “We’re oversold, there’s no room for you here.”

The little girl’s mom and dad were smiling big now but Shiro didn’t like it one bit. He frowned and looked back at his dad whose scent had shifted. His smile remained fixed to his face but like an ill-fitting mask. 

“We reserved and paid for the room.”

“We will process the refundable portion of your reservation.”

“Don’t want a refund. We want the room we booked.” His dad was getting loud, making Shiro nervous. Neither of his parents raised their voice much.

“This is a private establishment, we have the right to deny service for any reason. You are causing a disruption—”

“You haven’t seen disruption yet.” Shiro’s dad retorted.

The other alpha dad smoothly placed her hand over the bio-print panel as if moving on with her reservation as she said, “What a crass, low-bred alpha. May today serve as a lesson to you.” 

“Una burra hablando de orejas.”

“What did you say?” Whoa, that other alpha whipped around so fast Shiro thought she might’ve hurt herself. 

“You’re like an  _ ass _ talking about ears!” Shiro translated, only too delighted to help out since he just recently learned that ‘ass’ was a perfectly legitimate word for ‘donkey’.

He then eyed his parents nervously for his outburst. They never liked it too much when he put himself in conversations between grownups.

“That’s the literal translation, Shiro.” said his dad though his eyes remained fixed on the other alpha. “The saying is actually referring to an ass talking junk about others for the same trait they have.”

In what world did that make sense?! Animals don’t talk!

“How do asses talk junk?” 

The other dad’s scent was becoming overpowering. Forget the question. Maybe it was time to go find his sister. Shiro looked out and found Clara, Marcelo, and Anita standing in a row, wide-eyed, all staring at them. Saul was in Anita’s arms looking out curiously too. In fact, there were many, many eyes looking in Shiro’s direction and security was heading their way.

He threw his hands up ready to yell that it wasn’t his fault this time when he heard a loud snort from his mom.

“I’m not interested in alpha-posturing. Why does this kind of shi— shipwreck keep happening to me?” His mom growled as he dropped his hand down on the bio-print panel and did something odd, moving his hand in a pattern that manifested a digital keypad where he dialed a code. Shiro gawked and stuck his head under his mom’s arm to get a better look — was there a secret decoder key that unlocked some kind of special hotel powers? 

Plain crawler text began to scroll across the panel. Then a logo that Shiro recognized as a One World insignia materialized. Right under it, the words ‘One World Revenue Services calculating… 1%’ and a loading bar appeared. Shiro could just see the very edge of Jun’s screen and realized the same image and words were on her panel as well. He craned to look past his mom and saw that all the hotel kiosk screens he could glimpse had the same thing.

“My kids are tired. My kids’ friends are tired. I’m tired. I don’t care about the resort’s financial records but I can get the resources to pursue a One World audit if I need to. Give us the room we booked.”

They were now looking only at his mom and it was in a much different way than before. The tall beta’s eyebrows creased as he took over for Jun, his fingers flying over his screen. The other mom and dad had taken a step back.

“Mr. Alvarez, please accept our humblest apologies. We will upgrade your room, compliments of the house.”

“Whatever.”

“Your hand scan please.”

Shiro’s mom pressed his hand down on the panel. Shiro hoped he would do more secret code things but nothing special happened.

“Your room details have been sent to you. You are all set.”

His mom kept eyeing the beta as he said, “Don’t call me honey.”

“My sincerest apologies, sir.”

A beat past before his mom stopped the audit query. He took Shiro’s hand and turned to leave but the other mom happened to be in his way. Shiro watched wide-eyed as his mom glared at the other lady and exploded, “Move!”

He thought it would be cool if his mom’s glares allowed him to shoot lasers from his eyes like Shiro’s favorite superhero but he supposed it wouldn’t be a good idea for him to have superpowers because too many people would be lasered and he might be confused for a bad guy. The fancy lady seemed to startle and took one giant step back allowing his mom to keep storming away.

The way out brought Shiro close to the little girl. She was still staring at him. Shiro bit his lip, eyes running over the girl as he racked his head for something to break the ice. It might be his last chance to try and make friends with her! He spotted her shoes which had a stripe of blue star-shaped LED lights on the sole and the side had a white and purple emblem he recognized instantly.

It was the same emblem he’s seen on his mom’s heirloom dagger! From what he knew that came from his alien Galra heritage, but Earth people weren’t supposed to know about that because it would scare them and would cause problems for mom and dad. Was that changing?? He would ask his mom.

“Cool shoes!!” He yelped as he was whisked away.

The girl broke into a shy smile.

Shiro grinned back.

“See? In control.” He heard his dad say. Shiro looked back and saw his dad giving the other dad a very big smile as he casually walked by. He even winked at her. What was that about?

Shiro shook his head and kept smiling to himself, thrilled to have made a friend!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One last chapter from Shiro's perspective coming up hopefully next week! :))


	9. Shiro! (3 of 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many of the guests were still eyeing Shiro and his mom. He tried to wave and smile at each and every one but there were too many for a personal greeting and his sister kept derailing things by manually rotating his head forward. (e.g. We hear some more from Keith and Lance's eldest son :))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter from Shiro's POV. No warnings, hope you enjoy!! And again a huge thanks to Madoshi for the beta. :D

Shiro’s mom was hauling him through the lobby towards a broad, carpeted hallway where the room numbers began. They stomped by security and all the people waiting for check-in, and passed a few boutiques and restaurants between the many nooks of fancy couches where people were milling around. Many of the guests were still eyeing Shiro and his mom. He tried to wave and smile at each and every one but there were too many for a personal greeting and his sister kept derailing things by manually rotating his head forward.

He would deal with it later because there were much more important things to worry about like calling dibs on the best bed and getting his butt on a water slide. His mom reached their first floor room and with a quick hand scan unlocked the door. Shiro’s mouth dropped but he had no time to process anything: he had to squish himself to his mom because a stampede of squealing teenagers nearly ran him over in their haste to check out the suite.

“Ahh!” They said. Shiro said, “Ahhh!’ too as it seemed appropriate and ran after them, “Wait up!!!”

He heard his brother, who was left behind with dad, yell ‘Ahh!’ too, and shot out his arm for Saul’s hand so they could discover the place together.

“Be careful, Shiro! Don’t stick your head into anything.”

“I won’t!” ...unless there was something good to investigate but his dad didn’t need to know that.

The main room was an enormous hexagon, two of its sides were made of multiple patio doors.

Beyond that he could see the water slides!! He felt his little brother stiffen. He must’ve spotted them too.

“So beautiful!” said Saul with appropriate deference. Yes, Shiro’s thoughts exactly! They ran together as one towards the pearly gates of heaven until an ominous shadow stepped in between them and their paradise and the shadow’s scent wasn’t back to normal yet.

“Where do you two think — Lance! Put me down!”

“What for?”

It was the perfect opportunity to make a break for it! Shiro ducked past his dad who held his mom hostage and ran for the doors. He pressed his nose against the glass as his hand crept unbidden towards the doorknob. It froze when flashbacks of mami’s very serious frown and awful words of disappointment came to mind. The water slides were almost worth the consequences. Almost.

“Can we go there? On the water slide?” Saul asked.

“I hope so.” Shiro sighed.

There were more slides than he thought. Shiro and Saul stood rooted to the spot as if time had stopped for them while life continued its merry march. Shiro imagined what it would be like to scale the tallest slide and wave at his parents from so far up. They would be very impressed and he would be very brave and leap into sparkling rushing water with no hesitation at all. He would laugh gleefully when he was shot out into the air, maybe he could surprise everyone and swan dive back towards earth.

Everybody would clap and fawn over him! They would marvel at his repeated flawless performances because each time he shot out of the slide he would execute an even more complicated dive with five or six somersaults! All the kids would want to be his friend and they would go on all the waterslides together and make up a bunch of adventures along the way. He might become their most popular visitor and should prepare for it. He had to think of what kind of water games he could propose for all his new friends. He would make sure they were the very best games anyone would ever experience!

“Okay, which one of you hypnotized Shiro?” his dad said from somewhere close behind. “Come back to Earth, baby.”

Shiro blinked a few times. When did his dad put his mom down? And Saul was no longer next to him — had he been gone for a while?

“Papi.” Clara groaned, “Why didn’t you leave him alone. He’s not spazzing out for a change!”

“So sorry that your brother is such a terrible inconvenience for you,” said his dad as he dropped a hand on Shiro’s back and led him to where everyone had gathered. 

They were all relaxing in the living room, slumped on the couches in various degrees of repose. Clara and her friends were all on their datastream devices. Saul was diligently combing all of mami’s flyaway locks in an attempt to tame it. Mami looked confused, like he always did when Saul played pretend hairdresser.

“Pa, I’m sending you the itinerary for tomorrow.” said Clara.

“Let me guess.” Said his dad as he reached for his own vid to review the list. “Cycler morning followed by a cycler lunch followed by the cycler exhibition grounds.”

“Hey, I put in some time for shopping.” Clara replied defensively.

“Uh huh — I see it here. 11 o’clock shopping. I noticed it’s at the Concept Cycler convention.” Papi said dryly.

Shiro lingered by the armchair that his dad had settled in, unsure of his next move. His mom looked happier than before and when he was happy he made even better suggestions on things Shiro wanted to do; for example, maybe he would suggest going to an even bigger water park! Then again… Shiro looked at his dad thoughtfully. He tended to say ‘yes’ a lot more often and he liked water almost as much as Shiro did so he was possibly the better chance for a pool excursion. 

Shiro drummed his fingers on the back of the chair and shifted his weight from foot to foot.

“Papi…”

His dad pulled him in by the waist and smacked a kiss on his head but his attention remained on his vid.

Shiro sat on the arm of the chair and asked in his most hopeful voice, “Papi, can we go to the pool?”

“Mm, hold on, Shiro. Clara, you have us zigzagging all over town to catch all-day events. That doesn’t make any sense. You should group this by area.”

“But that’s not how I want to see it! The first three make more sense back to back.”

“Clara—”

“Papi.” Shiro tried again for his attention as desperation built inside. The whole cycler thing can wait until tomorrow, they were in a hotel with water slides right now! 

“Papi. Papi. Papi. Papi? Papi, Papi, Papi, can we go to the pool? Papi, Papi. Papi. Papi. PAPI!”

His dad finally looked at him with brows furrowed and a steadfast stare. That was not the kind of attention Shiro wanted at all. He blushed and grinned nervously. He had to play his cards right or he might never see that pool!

“Excuse me, papi?” He asked, sweetly, just above a whisper.

“You are not excused.”

Shiro frowned, eyes wide as he wheedled, “Papi, can we please—”

“Princesa, we’re going to spend more time  _ going _ from place to place than actually-”

“Argghhh papiiiiiii.” Shiro whined and dove over the side of the couch as if he was expecting to land on a slip-and-slide mat instead of his dad’s lap. He felt his dad stick an arm under him and a second later, Shiro was catapulted so he ended up backflipping right over the opposite side of the couch, yelling and laughing as he landed on his butt. 

He sprang back up to his feet and propped his hands on his dad’s knees, leaning in to block his dad’s view of his sister. The burning desire to go visit the pool pushed everything else aside. Why wouldn’t his dad just listen for one quick second? He shouted in aggravated annoyance, “Papi, stop talking!  _ Excuse _ me!” 

Oh no, his dad stiffened and wholly focused on him in a bad kind of way. Shiro yanked his hands away, sticking them behind his back as he swiveled side to side, nervously awaiting his dad’s scolding words. 

“[Are you courting a corner?]” Papi threatened.

Shiro smiled sheepishly and rocked back on his heels, “No... [I just wanted to check if…]”

“Shiro,” Papi warned.

This was definitely not the way Shiro wanted things to go. A battle waged inside between hopeless tears or nervous giggling. He needed an answer very badly so he swallowed and forged ahead, quietly, “[I just wanted to know if we can go to the pool that’s all.]”

“Not right now.”

The world began to crumble around Shiro; that brush off was like a kick in the teeth. He stood up straight, hands clenched into fists and cried out, “Papi! Why not?!”

“That’s one, Shiro.” 

Shiro sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and looked away. ‘One’ was an awful number as was ‘two’ which would inevitably follow and then ‘three’ would be worse of all. He turned his back on his dad and studiously avoided looking at any corners and beelined towards his sister, wedging himself between her and Marcelo. He just had to visit that pool! Why wouldn’t his dad cooperate?! What was Shiro going to have to do??

Shiro sighed and slumped to the side so he was leaning heavily on his sister. He needed to regroup. Maybe he still had a chance but he had to figure out how to convince dad. 

A scent that reminded Shiro of grownups when they kissed each other was in the air between Marcelo and Clara. Oh! He completely forgot about Marcelo having a baby. That was interesting and he should start making plans for being a good uncle. He stared at his sister thoughtfully.

Mami had asked if Clara should rut so maybe she hadn’t made Marcelo pregnant yet. They definitely needed to be together for at least one heat and rut in order to make babies.

She stared back at him.

“Are you going to rut with Marcelo when he heats up?”

He might as well have thrown a bomb in the middle of the room. He thought he saw his parents look up suddenly and both Clara and Marcelo’s scent went haywire again. Anita started laughing so hard that she dropped her comm. What was so funny? 

“What is wrong with you?!” Clara yelped.

“I’m only asking!” Shiro slid off the couch, fidgeting. Why was everyone so picky today, yeesh!

“Buzz. Off!”

“But I only want to know so I can be a very good uncle!” He argued.

“No one here is gonna be an uncle! Go away, Shiro!”

“Stay, Shiro.” Said his dad, loudly. “He didn’t do anything, Clara.”

Shiro groaned and power walked over to his mom where he dumped himself over his mom’s upper half and laid his head on his mom’s shoulder. He felt a hand rub at his back and much smaller hands start picking at his hair. Shiro turned to look at his little brother who offered him a big smile. Oh, if only he could be so blissfully young and carefree like Saul.

“Wanna play movie stars?”

Shiro shook his head ‘no’. He was too depressed to gather up any words.

His brother frowned only briefly, “Okay.” He then smiled at mami and started to pretend cut his hair tips. “What gorgeous texture!!” Saul exclaimed in a perfect imitation of the hairdresser advise show they saw sometimes on the datastreams. “Tell me what you like about your hair!”

“Uhhhhhh…” Said their mom. Shiro picked at his hair as well. It made him think of Camilo who had long hair too. He cheered up, thinking about his best friend. Camilo would’ve tried his best to help Shiro figure out how to convince his dad. Shiro wasn’t even going to try with mami now because he would just say something like ‘this is between you and papi’. 

He huffed and tried to think hard on this. Maybe he could ask Camilo for advice. Also maybe he had sent him a letter back already and Shiro always loved seeing the image loops Camilo would put in his letters. That was something to look forward to!

“Mami, could I please use your tablet?” 

His mom handed it to him wordlessly while smiling at Saul. Shiro evaluated his chances for attention from his parents — unlikely with mami since he was playing a boring pretend game with Saul — and papi was still talking to Clara and maybe still angry. Yet again there was no one to pay attention to Shiro. Even Marcelo and Anita were huddled together since Marcelo had fled over to his sister to eye Clara evilly from afar.

Shiro shifted in place for a moment and distracted himself by checking the tablet. Camilo had not answered yet. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to prepare for the next letter. He should take a lot of photos so he can narrate the harrowing water slide discussion so far. He eyed his dad, considering taking a picture, but he didn’t look very mad and that wouldn’t work for his storyboard. Besides, papi always grinned anytime there was a photo taken, unlike mami who wouldn’t change expressions (unless he had been smiling — then he would smile less). Shiro would have to use that photo he took of his dad mid-sneeze. He bit his lip and looked up. 

There was a kitchen in the room. Between the kitchen and the living room there appeared to be a recessed nook at the far wall that had a big circular fireplace! Shiro scrambled over and circled it, in awe. 

“Wow! We can have an inside campfire!” He exclaimed. On opposite sides of the nook, there were two mysterious sliding doors. That’s right, Shiro hadn’t seen the rest of the rooms yet! He grinned, tablet camera at the ready and set off to discover what the rest of the rooms were like.

Oh. What a disappointment. Two very big beds with a bunch of dumb pillows, some chairs, and big windows and a bathroom. That was it.

Same thing for the other room. No interesting toys or slides or anything. Though this one had a piece of chocolate on the table. Shiro took care of it as he strolled over to the windows.

“Mmm!” Wow, that was delicious! He wished his parents would let him have more chocolate, but they never had any at home and papi didn’t buy much sweets. Back in Cuba, the best he could do was hope that Camilo had brought some of his home-made chocolate chip cookies to share. Shiro sighed as he peered out the window. He missed his best friend. He rather be over there playing with his friend than over here near water slides that he couldn’t ride.

At least the view was neat. There was a water lily pond surrounded by big rocks and pretty flowers. Hopefully, there were cool bugs and snails and things.

“Shiro!” called his dad. “Out here where we can see you, please.”

Shiro huffed. He wasn’t even doing anything! What was the big deal? He was getting ready to yell back but something caught his eye just as he turned. At the very edge of his line of sight out of the window, he spotted a great big toad, sitting under the shade of a rock. His heart soared. His second-grade teacher loved toads! She would be so pleased with Shiro if he were to present her with a virtual still of that toad! All he needed to do was take a good motion clip with mami’s tablet.

The window had a bottom panel with a turn handle in the center. The angle wasn’t very good for a motion snapshot so Shiro pushed open the panel as far as he could to stick his arm out. He did not have much luck as there wasn’t much of an opening to work with, but he was determined to get his shot for Ms. Calderon. 

She wasn’t going to be his teacher anymore since he was starting third grade in the new school year. This meant that he had to be sure he was ready to make her the happiest teacher on the planet were they to cross paths again. His reading list plus a projection of that toad would have her fawning all over him and then, at last, he would ask her to bond with him. Shiro sighed dreamily at how she would laugh and promise to bond with him as soon as he grew up. He just needed that toad to make it all happen. Shiro worked double time, sticking the tip of his tongue out, while he worked his arm through the tight opening. 

He hung on to his mami’s tablet and reached out as far as he could, straining to get that perfect shot. His hand was shaking when at last the toad was lined up perfectly-—

“Shiro!”

Shiro jumped out of his skin. The tablet slipped out of his hand and clattered down below, bouncing off a rock and splashing into the pond.

He paled. He dropped  _ mami’s _ tablet! He was pretty sure it wasn’t waterproof, unlike his playscreen. Shiro was going to get killed!

“I’m— I’m coming, papi!” He stammered. He tried to scramble away but his arm was stuck, too. Shiro panicked and pulled as hard as he could, prying himself loose and ignoring the sharp pain when the corner of the window scraped his bicep. It left a gash in its wake; Shiro nervously scrubbed away the blood that kept pooling in the cut and tugged the sleeve down, hoping it would hide most of it. 

He wiped his hand on his pants and burst through the door, wide-eyed. He remembered to grin as if everything was perfectly fine. His dad’s all-seeing eyes narrowed as he asked, “What’s the matter with you?”

Shiro shrugged and smiled as hard as he could, casually wandering towards his dad and picking up a guest e-pamphlet along the way. Hopefully, if he could ignore the burning cut and stop his hands from shaking, no one would notice anything and his mom would completely forget about his tablet and get a new one and everything would be great. Shiro sat cross-legged on the carpet, next to his dad where he thought was his best chance to fade into the background. Hide in plain sight like his favorite superhero when she was in trouble, then plan his escape and rescue that tablet. He could hopefully slip out through one of the patio doors and find the device and fix it.

“Shiro… “ said his dad, followed a beat later by a much more intense, “Shiro!” 

The act was up. 

“I didn’t mean to!” Shiro cringed, not daring to look at either of his parents. His mom was going to be so angry with him. His scent was going to get as bad as it got when he fought with Clara! “It was an accident! I’m sorry!!”

Papi was down on the floor an instant later, rolling up Shiro’s bloody sleeve, “Baby, why are you bleeding? Let me see.”

“It was an accident!”

“What is it?” The worried voice of his mom.

“He’s scratched up.” Dad inspected the scrape. “It’s not too bad, I don’t think. Shiro, you were gone for two seconds!” Papi stood up taking his hand. “C’mon.”

Shiro stood up and bit his lip as he was led back to the bedroom. Was this a plank march towards a fate worse than death?

They returned to the scene of the crime but dad went right past the open window and dug into a duffel bag stored in the closet. He pulled out the ‘Shiro Kit’ from the bag and then walked them into the bathroom. 

Shiro watched quietly as his dad had him hold his arm out over the sink so he could rinse away the blood. He shoved his face on his dad’s side. Everyone was gonna be mad at him again. Or worse yet — disappointed. He hated letting anyone down. Squeezing his eyes shut, Shiro confessed hotly, “The tablet fell by accident.” 

“Huh?”

“I’m sorry!”

“What tablet? Where did it fall?”

“There was a giant toad!” Shiro gestured wildly with his free arm, “Ms. Calderon was going to love him so I was taking a very good picture and Mami’s tablet fell out the window.” 

Papi sighed. “Shiro.”

“And into a pond... “

“Shiro!” he could scent that his dad was aggravated. That made things worse because his dad rarely got upset with anyone enough for his scent to change.

“I can pay for it!” Shiro offered, miserable when he disappointed his parents. It looked like he would have to charge for babysitting after all. 

Papi snorted, “You got a job I don’t know about?” He pulled bandages and an antibacterial spray from the kit, quieting as he concentrated on bandaging him up, “Shiro, I think you’re just tired. Time for bed.”

Whaaat?! That was outrageous! “It’s not bedtime! It’s morning!” 

“It’s not morning for our bodies, yet.” His dad re-checked the bandage and adjusted it as he glanced up and smiled at Shiro. “We need to adjust to the timezone.” Papi led them back out to the bedroom where he walked over to the windows and peeked out of them; then, he darkened the panes and shut the curtains.

“But I’m not sleepy!” Shiro argued. “And Saul is still up!”

“Saul slept most of the way here, did you?”

He was going to yell ‘yes’ on reflex but his lie petered out at the stern look his dad fixed on him. “I—” He mumbled, “I’m not sleepy, it’s not fair.”

“That’s how life is sometimes, baby.” His dad picked up his bag and started rummaging through it. “Go take a shower, I’ll get you your pj’s and toothbrush.”

Shiro bounced on his feet a little out of frustration. Why did his dad always say that first part?  _ He _ was the one making things unfair! He didn’t HAVE to do that! Shiro would’ve argued, but he didn’t want the count for the corner to go to two. Corner time was embarrassing but even worse, it was boring. Shiro glared at the bedroom door passed his dad as if he could see right through it. Both his sister and  _ younger _ brother could stay up while he had to go to bed. It really wasn’t fair!

And he didn’t get to see the water slides. 

And he won’t have a chance to see Camilo’s letter as soon as it arrives. And he couldn’t get a virtual still of the toad for his teacher. His sister told him he was not gonna be an uncle and he broke a tablet and had to figure out a babysitting business to pay for it. Plus his mom was going to be angry.

Nothing at all was going his way. 

Shiro couldn’t stand it anymore. His shoulders slumped and he looked down at his feet as the tears came. He sniffled, feeling just awful for himself. This wasn’t a very good vacation at all. He felt his dad crouch down and pull him into a hug which he dropped into listlessly.

“Shiro…” He heard his dad laugh softly, “A nice shower and sleep isn’t punishment. You’ll feel a lot better after you had some rest.”

“I can’t do anything right.” Shiro wept.

His dad sighed, “Were you showering in your school uniform and sleeping by marching in a parade again?”

Shiro reeled back to stare at his dad. “What?! Papi, I didn’t do that.” He sniffled.

“Oh, that might’ve been me then.”

Shiro smiled wanly as he rubbed at his tears.

His dad continued, “You’re more the shower-in-your-turkey-costume and sleep-by-howling-at-the-moon type.”

A bubble of laughter escaped Shiro. “I don’t have a turkey costume and I’m not a werewolf!”

“Weren’t you a turkey last Halloween??”

“I was a pirate!” Shiro giggled.

“Then why were you making this noise?” His dad made the most ridiculous turkey gobbling sound Shiro had ever heard in his life. He grew weak as he laughed.

“I was a pirate! I said ‘Arrr!’”

“Arrr… you hungry for werewolf-turkey?” Papi clarified. “Yes, I do remember you saying that.”

“I wasn’t a werewolf-turkey! I was a pirate!”

“Yeah. Uh-huh,” his dad dismissed his words immediately.

Shiro flung his arms around his dad as if he could somehow physically repress his silliness, and ended up giggling into his shoulder.

His dad pulled him back just enough to cup his cheeks with his hands.

“Shiro.” Papi smiled broadly and kissed his forehead, “You can do a lot of things right. I know it because I’ve seen you get things very right. You just have to learn by getting them wrong first, that’s all. That’s how everyone learns anything, baby. Just keep trying.” 

Shiro beamed at his dad. Messing up was normal. “Okay.” He would make sure he made a lot of mistakes first. Papi patted his cheek.

“A new ‘What in the World, Andy?’ cast is out. We can listen together before bed. Would you like that?”

That was his favorite cast and those were almost an hour long and had cool activities. His dad was going to listen with him! “Okay!”

“Go get ready, baby.”

Shiro grabbed the clothes handed to him and hurried to shower. He noticed all the hotel toiletries on top of the sink that were like a tasteful spread of mysterious little gifts and made sure to inspect each package and try out every single bottle. In his shower, he caught sight of a bunch of cool spa options and pressed each of the buttons, watching the water panel change. Then he grabbed his towel and soaked it to prove he had showered in case his dad checked because who had time for actual showering? C’mon.

He froze when he heard his dad shout from the bedroom, “Your entire body under the shower, lather everywhere with soap and rinse everywhere including the back of your ears, I will  _ know _ if you didn’t, you dirty little minion.”

Shiro hurried back into the shower and yelled back indignantly, “I’m showering!”

“Good!”

During the hassle that was showering with soap and after a few renditions of his favorite theme songs, Shiro threw on the pj’s his dad picked out for him and hurried out of the bathroom. Papi was waiting up for him on one of the beds, a tablet in hand. Mami’s tablet!

“You found it!” Shiro yelled. He ran over and launched himself into his dad’s arms. “Thank you!!” 

“Shiro.” Papi laughed as he was knocked over. “Yes, I found it. You need to be more careful with other people’s belongings.”

He sat back up and tucked the mattress sheet around Shiro who curled into a ball over a pillow.

Shiro vowed, “I won’t ever drop anything ever again.”

“That’s impossible, Shiro.” Papi said in amusement, “Just be careful.”

“Okay.” He sat up and scooted until he was pressed by his dad’s side, snuggled under his arm. Shiro’s eyes were growing heavy as he watched his dad search for the cast but he shook it off, determined not to lose his chance to listen to the cast with papi. Much to Shiro’s relief, the tablet did not look like it had been damaged by water. That was a good thing because if he and Camilo were to start a babysitting service, he would prefer to keep the money they earned and buy a better Nerf waterfort drone or a new driftboard for Camilo (his parents wouldn’t buy him a new one after he broke his second one on a dare Jorge bullied him into. Next time, Shiro would punch Jorge in the face).

He thought about the new babysitting services idea and frowned. He was hoping to start with his niece or nephew, but now Clara said that he wasn’t going to be an uncle. She couldn’t stop him from being an uncle if Marcelo was having her baby though. Maybe she wanted to hide it from him if it happened. 

“Is Marcelo sharing his heat with Clara?”

“What?” His dad stopped scrolling for a moment and his scent changed like when he was nervous or surprised. “Shiro, why are you so worried about that? That heat conversation was a grown-up thing. It’s not for you to worry about.”

Shiro bit his lip. He supposed he could figure it out later when Marcelo got really round. If it even happened — Clara would have to rut properly. She can build cyclers and fly them very well, but she can’t bake no matter how much she tries, so Shiro was a little worried about the rut thing.

He didn’t say anything else about it, watching his dad scroll. Wait, his dad’s an alpha. He would know about rutting, right?

“Do you rut, papi?” 

“Shiro.” Papi sighed.

“What?”

“Yes, baby, I rut. Most grown-up alphas will rut if they have an omega partner.”

Shiro had been wondering about that. How did it work exactly? Maybe he could see one? 

“Can I see a rut?”

“That’s a strong  _ no _ .” Papi yelped, then frowned and his scent spiked. “You’re not seeing any kind of rutting in any kind of way any time soon. Not for a long, long, long, long time. I’ll have to be very dead before that happens.”

“You have to  _ die _ ?” Shiro asked, putting the awful pieces together. He knew heats caused ruts for alphas and a shared heat made babies. If there was an alpha then the heat would have knots and people getting stuck together. When he grew up and had heats, he would make sure he was with his second-grade teacher whom he loved because it would be a nightmare to be stuck to someone like Jorge. Or if he hadn’t convinced his teacher of their true love yet then he could be with a beta and have a heat stuck-free, that’s even better. 

That was all well and good, but dads dying because of ruts was news! Was Marcelo’s dad dead since Marcelo could make Clara rut? Or maybe her rut would kill Marcelo’s dad and that’s why mami was asking if it was okay?? 

“Shiro.”

No wonder his dad was upset!

“How do I stop a heat?!” He had to figure that out so he could avoid accidentally killing his dad.

“Shiro.” Papi hesitated, “What’s going through your head? I’m not dying.You don’t stop a heat. But they’re not until you are older.”

How old?! How was he supposed to be okay with getting a heat and accidentally killing his dad? He paled; worse yet, his best friend was an alpha! Did he count as Camilo’s omega partner?

“Are you going to die if Camilo ruts?” He worried.

Papi dropped the tablet and for a second it looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his face. Then it got weirder because he was smiling and talking gently but his scent was  _ bad _ . “Why would Camilo rut?” 

“I’m his omega partner?” Shiro hazarded a guess.

“What… what do you mean?”

“We’re best friends!”

“Shiro.”

“What?”

“When you say best friends… Is Camilo special to you?”

Duh, he’s his best friend? He nodded.

Again with the weird scent spike.“Shiro, is he your boyfriend?”

What?!

“No! Ew!” He said, indignant. He had one love in his life and that was his second grade school teacher who he was going to bond with someday and that was that.

“Okay. When I said omega partner I meant like boyfriends and girlfriends or a bondmate.”

“Oh. Okay.” So, right. Bondmate then. He would share his heat with his teacher. That would be great!

Shiro mulled it over silently as he watched his dad select the cast. 

Finally, the Andy stream! He closed his eyes because his eyelids felt quite heavy and besides he only needed his ears not his sight for the non-activities part. After it was over he would make sure to bring up the water slides again. Shiro laid back down and threw the mattress sheet over himself to listen better.

He didn’t hear any of it.

The next time he opened his eyes, he was bundled up in blankets and his sister was sleeping next to him. Ew. He sat up and spotted his mom and Saul curled up on the other bed. His dad was missing. Shiro slipped out of bed and snuck out of the bedroom towards the living room. Papi was laid out on the sofa in front of a projection that was streaming an action vid. His eyes had been closed but they peeked open when Shiro got closer.

“Hi, baby.”

Shiro grinned as he scrubbed the sleep out of his eyes and took the armchair. “Hi!” 

Wow, he felt pretty great. He looked around for his playscreen which wasn’t as good as mami’s tablet, but would still do for checking Camilo’s reply. 

“Papi, have you seen my playscreen?”

“You mean this?” His dad dangled his screen between them.

“Yeah, thank you!” He slid off the armchair and grabbed the screen, sitting down on the spot, cross-legged on the floor. The wallpaper showed that the time was 2:13 pm. 

“Papi, it’s still today.” Shiro marveled. 

“Isn’t it always today?”

Shiro’s head shot up, mouth open to clarify, but saw his dad’s smile and realized he was teasing him. He smiled back exasperated. “Papi!”

His dad laughed. “I sent you a copy of our things-to-do. You might want to take a look.”

“Okay!” Shiro flicked through his screen for messages and whooped when he saw a reply back notification from Camilo. “Camilo wrote back!” 

He debated briefly between that and his dad’s message, but decided that it would be good to know the things-to-do so he could brief Camilo of his potential adventures. His dad’s message was a big list —

_ Today _

_ 7 am: Arrive and look great _

_ 8 am — 12 pm: Make sure Shiro sleeps to ‘What in the world, Andy?’ and have lunch some time. _

_ 1 pm: Wait for Shiro. _

_ 2 pm: Still waiting for Shiro, wow, he must’ve been very sleepy. _

_ 3 pm: Watch everyone wake up from their naps. _

_ 4 pm: It’s probably time for water slides. _

_ 5 pm: Definitely water slides _

_ 6 pm - 7 pm: More water slides? _

Shiro felt this surge that started at his toes and rushed into his lungs and spread like wildfire throughout his body. 

“WATER SLIDES!” He squealed, leaping off the ground. Dreams of rushing down swirling water slides and perfect swan dives and cannonballs with papi and laughter with new friends ran through his head.

“Water slides!” Cheered his dad. He had sat up and was smiling broadly, “I say you grab the towel and swim trunks I left in the half bath for you and we sneak out before everyone else wakes up. [Just the two of us. What do you say?]”

Exclusive rights to dad!! The day couldn’t get any better!

“We can go now?!” He gasped. 

Papi laughed and pointed to the half bath. “Yes! If you hurry, Shiro.”

“I’m hurrying!!” He could barely get the words out as he tried to dash off. Unfortunately, the armchair was in his way and he collided hard, face planting between the arm and seat, both feet flying up in the air. He felt the chair rock briefly on two legs before it fell back down to Earth.

“Shiro!”

Shiro bounced back up and brushed himself off. “I’m okay!” He shot a big grin his dad’s way and ran. Things were good for Shiro!


	10. The Midnight Tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s not that Keith didn’t trust his daughter. But trusting her teenage hormones was another story (the family vacation continues :D)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Upped the rating due to language and sex talk. :)

Keith rolled onto his side and tried to will himself to sleep. Seconds later, he flipped back over and just barely resisted the urge to burrow under the pillows to groan dramatically. His problem was Clara. 

It’s not that Keith didn’t trust his daughter. But trusting her teenage hormones was another story. Not that it mattered — Clara had no good way of sneaking out. And even if she managed to do so, it was unlikely that she would seduce Marcelo right under his sister’s nose and go get bonded and somehow trigger Marcelo’s heat and have wild impregnating sex all without Keith catching on. Besides, from what Keith could tell, his daughter wasn’t adept at charming or wooing anyone and she wasn’t great at sneakiness despite her constant attempts. 

Her number one interest was her builds. But who knows; maybe his daughter had turned into a sly heartbreaker on the side, prowling school and cycler circuits for interested omegas who might share their heat. 

_ You got no game. Your mom gotta do it for you. _

Keith huffed. Maybe not. According to Marcelo, it was the opposite — so far the young omega always had the upper hand in their verbal sparring. Keith couldn’t exactly tell the nuances of Marcelo’s scent, except that it was not hostile. He had not interacted with him very much and unfortunately, Keith was still shit at social cues and teenagers, in general, were a mess for him to try to puzzle out.

What Keith did know was that during his own (clumsy) romantic overtures he never showed much interest in Lance, at least according to his sisters-in-law, so looks and cues could be deceiving. 

He eyed his bondmate who was partly blocking his view of the other bed. Lance was snoring softly, arm tucked around Saul who was bundled up between them.

His alpha had once told him that he wanted to be a dad for as long as he could remember. He just loved raising and caring for children. It was second nature for him. Keith didn’t think that was true for Clara. She shared Keith’s own attitude towards children before he became a mother. For his daughter, kids were at best mildly interesting subjects to troll if the mood struck her. Most of the time she merely tolerated their existence. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to figure out how she felt about having her own kid until she was much older. 

But she was a teenager prone to hormonal impulses.

She spoke to her dad and sometimes even Keith when she needed advice on big things and she seemed to be maturing. That may counter the hormones… somewhat.

Keith shoved the blankets over himself and curled up.

There was nothing to worry about. Right? Why was he so worried?

Clara was into Marcelo. They made fun of each other and clearly enjoyed each other’s company. If Keith remembered right, things had been similar for him; his bondmate mostly had mocked him or bitched back at him before they hooked up, which was based on a misunderstanding in the first place — Keith took Lance’s question about sharing a heat seriously when it was supposed to be a joke. The miscommunication changed the entire path of his life. For the better, granted, but that wouldn’t necessarily be the case for Clara.

Keith sighed.

Maybe the problem was that he was equating his life to his daughter’s. Clara and Marcelo were  _ not _ him and Lance.

Right. 

She was better equipped than he ever was to make smarter decisions. And any time he had dealt with Marcelo he had liked him. Marcelo was a decent kid with his head on right.

Yet. They were teenagers… As a teenager, Keith decided it was a great idea to live alone in a shack, share his heat twice with grown jerk alphas and chase any trace of Shiro (his brother, not his son, obviously) all by himself. Then he got pregnant and had Clara without actually deciding to have her.

Right.

So. His worrying wasn’t going to solve anything. Time for a distraction. 

Keith shoved the pillow and blankets away and eyed his bondmate.

Lance’s fingers were probably somewhat salty and alpha-tasting; a great combination. Keith picked up his bondmate’s hand, popped one finger in his mouth between his cheeks and gums and gnawed. Nothing got his alpha’s attention faster than a close encounter with Keith’s teeth, even in sleep. His eyes snapped open, wide in startled panic. 

“What.” He blinked multiple times as if trying to orient himself, then zeroed in on Keith and murmured as if soothing a wildebeest, “Kitten…” 

Keith’s eyes narrowed when he felt the finger slowly slide out of his mouth. His alpha took no chances; as soon as his finger was freed, Lance quietly scooted out of bed and fled the room. That wouldn’t do at all. Keith tucked Saul in and slipped out of the bed, glancing at Shiro and Clara who were sleeping like the dead. 

They all might have overdone pool time. By the end, Shiro had amassed a gang of seven to nine-year-olds that giggled and shouted their way through the pool attractions. While he was busy building his army, Keith played with his youngest son. The water slides weren’t particularly appealing to Keith personally, but he made sure Saul had a turn on each of the rides.

He handed his youngest off to Lance once his bondmate was abandoned (freed?) by Shiro and spent the rest of the time watching his family enjoy themselves while pointedly  _ not _ watching Clara and her crush too closely. The water attractions were too crowded for his tastes but it was all fine. Plus, Shiro tiring himself out was a big bonus. 

Keith smiled at the memory as he ran his hand through his eldest son’s hair and then gave Clara a soft pat on the back, stifling the surge of worry about her future, before heading out to join his alpha in the living room.

He found him curled on his side on one of the couches, tightly cocooned in a blanket.

“Go away,” Lance said, without opening his eyes. “And stop trying to eat me. You’re nowhere near pre-heat.”

Instead, Keith made a spot for himself by Lance’s feet and picked up the guest's e-pamphlet.

Keith shrugged. “You’re tasty.”

“There are snacks in the kitchen...” He mumbled, trailing off at the end. 

“I don’t want any snacks. You’re not sleeping, are you?”

His bondmate sighed heavily, then dragged himself up. “Of course not. It’s three in the morning. Why would I do something like that.” He sank down enough to drop his head on Keith’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

Keith took a breath and held it, “Clara’s gonna sire twenty-five children before she is eighteen.”

“Okay, well, we’ll make sure to have twenty-six so we win.”

“Lance.” Keith said, ignoring his joke, “[Twenty. Five.]”

“Wow. You speak spanish. When did this happen?”

“Lance.”

“Kitten.”

“I’m serious.”

Lance sighed again and straightened, rubbing at his eyes. He undid the blanket and hooked his arm under Keith’s knees, lifting and pulling his legs up and over so Keith ended up sitting on the couch on his side, legs flung over his bondmate’s lap. Lance then threw the blanket over both of them and waved an access point to life to switch on the fireplace. They were in a cooler climate than they were used to.

Keith watched him settle in, eyeing his scruffy bed hair and his disjointed movements which were a lingering effect from his long ago injury. It still occurred on occasion when he was tired. Lance twisted just enough to prop his elbow on the back pillow of the couch and rested his cheek on his fist. His eyes looked sleep-heavy as he loomed closer, almost as if he was going to slip from his propped arm and fall on Keith’s chest. The rest of his expression was relaxed, so casually warm and familiar to Keith.

“What are you serious about?” 

“About Clara.”

“She’s not about to have kids, Kitten.”

“How do you know?”

He shrugged. “I don’t. But there’s not much more we can do. We’ve talked her ear off, I think she gets it.”

That did not make Keith feel any better. His daughter inherited his streak of reckless impulsiveness. Thinking through things was a hard-earned habit he forced himself to cultivate through years of leading the charge. He had to fight himself even now to be rational and consider consequences. His daughter might throw caution to the wind or get in her head that she should have a child for some stupid reason or another. She was  _ so _ young.

“I don’t think we were ever that young,” He mused, “Not really.”

“We were definitely that young, but under crazy circumstances. She gets it, Kitten. And she knows all about her heritage and how that affects her.” He patted Keith’s hip. “No use worrying.”

Years ago, Keith would’ve growled and stomped away to brood. Now he took another deep breath and simply tried to relax. Tried to accept his discomfort and endure it passively until it lost power over him. Keith focused on thumbing the old scar across Lance’s face, watching him kiss his thumb as he traced over his lips. He smiled thinking about his bondmate at Clara’s age.

“You were an annoying piece of shit.” 

Yet, he realized, his bondmate was always such a good dad. His smile softened at the thought.

Lance smirked. “You shared your heat with me though.”

“Best thing I ever did.”

Lance’s eyes widened as if Keith’s earnest answer threw him for a loop and woke him up the rest of the way. 

“ _ Kitten _ .” 

The surprise was audible in his voice as he grinned widely and ran the back of his fingers down Keith’s jawline. Keith leaned in close to taste his welcoming lips. When he pulled back, Lance’s eyes were bright with pleasure as they ran from his face to his chest and lingered over the modest swell there then back up. 

He murmured, barely above a whisper, “Too bad I can’t fuck you. That’d make things better.”

Keith smirked, fisting the collar of Lance’s t-shirt and pulling him closer, feeling his heat on his skin, “Why can’t you fuck me?”

“You would wake everyone up.” 

Keith raised an eyebrow, “You think so, huh?”

“Yeah, you would be all—” Lance waved a hand dismissively and pitched his voice high but quiet, cognizant of the rest of the family, “Ohh, it’s so good. I can’t get enough. I’m so wet cause you are so amazing. Never stop. I can’t stop gushing, I’m screaming so loud. Ooh, ooh, ooh.”

Keith rolled his eyes. How exactly did his alpha confuse Keith’s natural baritone for a mouse-like pitch? 

“Sometimes I wonder, what the fuck you see and hear when I’m talking to you and you’re looking at me.”

Lance graced him with a crooked smile and a warm, sleepy kiss. “I see a kitten.”

Keith snorted. He felt old like he had lived a hundred lives and it was probably evident in the way he carried himself. He had scars all over his body and he’d heard people whine about him being intimidating or a jerk. Emily had told him people fetishized his dangerous omega vibe. If he was a kitten, then it was of the crotchety angry lion variety that was still capable of a good old fashioned mauling. Yet he was positive that that wasn’t what Lance was imagining. 

“You mean that literally, don’t you.”

His bondmate shrugged, smiling. “You’re cute and you paw at me. Like a kitten.”

Keith couldn’t help smirking harder. His alpha was slowly falling in his direction as Keith was leaning back. Lance sighed dreamily, wrapping his arms around Keith and settling in, snuggling his head on Keith’s chest, cheek to tit. 

“I could maim you ten different ways right now,” said Keith, hooking his leg over Lance’s calf.

“Still a kitten. A kitten with a taste for blood and vengeance.”

Such lovestruck idiocy. Keith chuckled, running his hands over Lance’s arms. 

“How would fucking me make things better?” He wondered in a soft undertone.

“Easy, you would ride me like a pony and literally bounce your worries away.”

Keith burst out laughing, unable to keep it toned down. “Nice,” he could feel Lance grin in response. 

He then bit his lip, poorly stifling the rest of his laughter as Lance pulled himself up on his elbows to meet his eyes. A familiar heart skipping thrill ran through him, knowing that Lance wouldn’t pass an opportunity to try and get him wet. He could feel his cock, heavy and tempting, pressed against his own.

“You would though. Then I’d roll you on your back so I can toss your knees over my shoulders when I bend you in half. I’d fuck those whining little noises out of you.”

It might’ve worked a little. Keith’s smile lingered as he let the tingling pass through him. This wasn’t the time or place, with the kids and their friends able to pop in at any moment, and they both knew it.

“Asshole,” Keith replied simply. “You owe me twelve hours of alpha dick.”

His alpha’s eyes narrowed, “I would need a rut for that.”

“Twelve hours.”

“You mean twelve minutes.”

“Hours.”

“How about twelve hours of blowjobs and twelve minutes of dick.” Lance countered.

“Twelve hours of blowjobs and twelve hours of dick.”

“You learned how to negotiate all by yourself, didn’t you?”

“That’s my final offer.”

“Oh really. One hour of blowjobs and five minutes of dick. Take it or leave it.”

Keith smirked, amused. “Now it’s five minutes of dick? You can do better than that.” 

“I can do better than twelve but I ain’t offering.”

Just as Keith opened his mouth to respond, Saul came bursting through the door, rushing towards them with a big smile on his face.

“Baby, it’s—” Lance started, but Saul had already made it to the sofa and ducked under the blanket to wriggle himself into the space between his parents’ chests, “—Argh. Saul!”

“Mami-” said Saul, he dug a sharp elbow into Keith’s chest then shoved the heel of his hands there for purchase, as he propped himself up.

“Saul,” Keith wheezed, trying to extricate himself from further toddler abuse. “Hold on-” 

“Dolphin went away and he-” Saul puffed as he adjusted so he was kneeling on his mom’s lap once Keith sat up properly. “-wanted a tea party!” Saul ducked in close, little nose to mami nose, “He said that— he said that you were invited!” 

He swiveled around suddenly, grabbing hold of Lance’s hand. “Papi, you were invited too.” He then took Keith’s hand as well. “You have to come, you are late!” Then, he tried to slip off the couch with his parents in tow. “Oh no, we are going to be late! Hurry, hurry!”

Keith shared a big smile with his bondmate as Saul struggled to haul them off the couch. 

“Saul,” Keith laughed and humored his son, allowing himself to be led back to the bedroom, “I’m not so sure that Dolphin would’ve wanted a tea party in the middle of the night. Dolphin loved bedtime!”

“Just like mami and papi,” Said Lance wryly, also being led away.

“It’s because— he wanted a very big special tea party!” Saul gasped to himself, realizing, ”Marcelo and Anita should come too-” and let go of Keith to beeline for Clara’s friends’ bedroom. 

“Oh no, you don’t!” Lance pulled his son back by his hand grip and hauled him up into his arms.

“Papi, they want tea…” Saul whined quietly.

“So is it that they want tea or YOU want them to want tea?”

His son grinned mischievously, bending backward to look up at the ceiling, explaining as he giggled through his reasoning, ”Dolphin invited them to tea right now…” and fell into a fit of tittering laughter when Lance tipped him sideways so his head was closer to the ground than his feet

“Marcelo and Anita politely decline the invitation,” said Lance as Keith swung the door open.

They found Clara and Shiro sitting next to each other, cross-legged on the floor, Clara was leaning heavily on the bed behind her, the back of her head propped by the mattress as she slept. Shiro had dozed off as well, he was leaning on his sister barely keeping a hotel cup and saucer in his grip. His sister had a cup and saucer too that were neatly set aside. 

Keith and Lance burst into laughter, the noise waking Shiro enough to spur him into action. He scrambled to regain his bearings, clumsily sipping at his imaginary tea as Clara sat up and sighed. 

“Tea!” Announced Saul, he stretched out towards the ground and ran for the rest of the hotel supplied coffee cups once Lance freed him.

Keith smirked and sat down on the floor across from his kids.

“Look at this sorry pair.” He teased.

“Oh, it’s another  _ burro hablando de orejas _ scenario.” Clara shot back, a touch of a wicked smile on her lips. Shiro’s eyes widened suddenly as if he was afraid his sister’s sass might get him in trouble. He busied himself with a second serving of pretend-tea that his brother hurried over to offer. Keith knew he should’ve been annoyed at his daughter calling him a dumbass, but her evil streak reminded him of his own. The ‘screw-the-authorities’ gene lived on. He settled for narrowed eyes and a poker face.

Lance grabbed a sock as he dropped next to Keith and threw it at his daughter’s head, “You are disowned. Kitten, flush her down a toilet, we’ll focus on the other two.”

“You’re not gonna do that. You love me.” She said smugly.

“That doesn’t make you less flushable,” said Lance dryly as he accepted the pretend tea offered by Saul and daintily lifted his pinky finger off the teacup handle to take a sip. “Is this limoncillo?” 

“It’s marshmallow creme my dear.” his son corrected. “How many cubes of sugar, darling?”

“Sugar...?” Lance drawled in his long-practiced impersonation of Lotor, “Marshmallow belongs to chocolate syrup. Any other sweetener source will be crushed. Have you the chocolate syrup? Bring this to me at once.” 

“Chocolate syrup for tea?!” Giggled Saul, then, at his dad’s imperious look, he saluted and re-immersed himself in the roleplay, “I will check the cupboards for the chocolate, your majesty!!” 

Saul ran towards the bedroom closet shelves and pretended to fling open cupboard cabinets in a frantic search for the syrup.

“Bring extra!” shouted Shiro, highly interested in his brother’s search.

“Shh, quietly Shiro.” Said Keith, “We don’t want to wake our guests.”

“He’s not gonna wake them,” Clara rolled her eyes, “Marcelo sleeps like the dead.”

Keith’s mouth dropped. That meant she was sleeping with Marcelo! His daughter looked at him and Lance suddenly, likely in response to their scent spikes then gawked, throwing her hands up.

“That’s NOT what I meant!”

“Are you having-” Keith blurted but managed to reign himself in enough to trail off without asking another blunt sex question in front of his middle child. He struggled to find the right words but they eluded him.

“Marshmallow tea?” Shiro ventured, wide-eyed and worried. “It’s just pretend, mami?”

“I’m not having _any_ _tea_!” Clara blushed. “But even if I was it’s… it’s my business, not yours!” 

Keith paled. How to handle this?! “Clara…”

“Princesa,” Lance cut in, pretend squirting the trial size moisturizer Saul had handed to him as ‘chocolate syrup’ and stirring it vigorously into his empty cup. “All we ask is that you use proper tea filters. You don’t want a cup of tea that you’re not ready for.”

“I  _ know, _ papi.” She groaned.

“What’s a proper tea filter, papi?” Asked Shiro.

“Don’t worry about it, Shiro.”

Shiro frowned then looked at his own teacup as if he could get some answers from it. Keith eyed his son then stared into his own cup, absolutely hating the conversation overall. If there was something he was god awful at, it was interpreting and/or speaking in code.

“So…” He started, still desperate for information. “You and Marcelo don’t like tea?”

Lance snorted, glancing at Keith as Clara grew redder. “She’s saying she hasn’t _had_ _tea_, Kitten. Meaning she hasn’t tried it to know if she likes it or not.”

Shiro’s nose wrinkled and he stared at his parents then at Clara as if they were all crazy. “Clara likes jamaica tea! She drinks  _ tea _ all the time!”

“Shiro did you finish  _ your _ tea?”

“No.” He answered grumpily and swung his hand out, “May I have the syrup please?” And pretend poured himself a huge helping from the bottle his dad handed to him and raised his cup for another serving from Saul who held the coffee carafe in hand. 

“Can I go back to sleep now?” He whined.

“Dolphin wants you to finish your tea.” Declared Saul, tender sounding on the surface though a clear steeliness underneath.

Okay, his daughter hasn’t had sex maybe? Keith felt relieved. Then a little sheepish. At her age, he was already a well seasoned sexual being. Mostly thanks to Lance. But this was different. This was his  _ daughter _ . She had no business being a shady teenager like he had been. He busied himself with several large fake gulps from his teacup so he could avoid looking his daughter in the eye for another second or two.

“But if I were to have tea…” She began slowly, making Keith choke on his own spit. Her eyes narrowed at him and somehow she grew redder but she continued, “For those times that the tea is at a high boil… would my teabag definitely knot? And uh… endure for the whole hot boil?”

“Definitely not what?” asked Shiro, confused.

High boiling teabags?! What?! Keith’s brain raced to decipher the question as both his daughter and bondmate looked at him expectantly.

“Kitten…” prompted Lance after a prolonged baited silence. “This is where you reassure our daughter that tea bags were made for tea.”

What was Lance talking about? Sex parts were made for sex? And high boiling meant particularly hot sex, maybe?! Was Clara asking if it was possible for her to be good in bed??

“Making tea boil takes practice. Like everything.” He answered reluctantly.

A bark of laughter from his alpha made him look his direction. His bondmate had flung his arm over his stomach and had keeled over to the side, his face red as he shook with laughter. Keith stared at him as he didn’t think his answer was particularly funny.

“Oh my god.” Laughed Lance while Clara looked ready to bolt.

“ _ Mami _ ,” she said.

“You’re supposed to do it wrong first, that’s how you learn anything,” advised Shiro.

“Oh my god!” howled Lance.

Keith rolled his eyes and looked around for a sound fence switch since his alpha’s loss of sanity was going to wake Clara’s friends. He spotted one and quickly activated an access point to switch it on.

“Oh man.” Lance wiped at his tears as he sat back up. ”Shiro, we’re going to have a little talk later. Kitten, you’re a lost cause,” He winked at Keith and cleared his throat, “Princesa, think of yourself as a spice option for the tea. So in tea terms — the teamaker brings the heat and water and his own base spice; ginger, for example. He can keep the whole thing a simple ginger tea or he can invite you to tea. 

“The second he invites you, you produce your special spice, let’s say mint. That means you’re going to change his ginger tea to ginger-mint. Now the tea is a unique ginger-mint blend and there’s no way for him to take the mint flavor back out as it’s part of the tea now.” Lance smiled just as Keith realized they were talking about an omega heat. His daughter had grown still and was watching his alpha as if hanging off his every word. 

“You always bring him mint,” Lance continued, “you can’t change your spice and he can’t change his ginger but he can adjust the amount of water so that the ginger-mint suits his preference. Either way, now you’re sharing tea and you both feel the same amount of heat and it cools off at the same rate for both of you.

“If you were a beta or an omega, you wouldn’t bring a spice to the invitation, you would bring a big scoop of cool milk for his tea. The flavor also changes but when you drink together it’s more muted, probably more soothing, and the milk cools the tea down faster. Neither you nor the teamaker have any conscious control over any of that.” Lance’s hands were in motion as he talked, serenely gesturing with long fingers and outstretched palms. For Keith it conjured up an image of his alpha standing in front of a class at the Garrison, conducting a lesson. It was kind of hot.

“At the tea party, the key thing is that you focus on the teamaker, not the tea.” Lance was smiling but the quality of his smile had changed somehow. He leaned towards their daughter as he spoke and his gaze grew steadfast when he concluded, “You changed his tea flavor and you might really like the tea but it’s  _ his _ tea party that you were invited to. Don’t forget that.”

Lance was indeed a teacher, Keith mused. He heard a quick intake of breath. It was his only warning before Shiro launched his verbal assault-

“Papi, how can Clara produce a special spice?! Why would she and the teamaker always bring the same spice? We can have any kind of flavor! I don’t want to bring milk to a tea party, I would bring chocolate chip cookies! Saul fell asleep on me and didn’t give me the tea he promised. What if the teamaker blows at his tea — his tea would cool faster than Clara’s tea! Papi. Papi.”

Shiro was wound up like a vintage clock. Meaning he would be extra trouble during the day’s events up until he passed out. Keith should’ve put the kibosh on Saul’s little tea party. He eyed his son who winced when he noticed his mom’s eyes on him.

“Baby, weren’t you sleepy a minute ago? Come here,” said Keith as Lance got up to put Saul to bed.

“Mami, I don’t want to pretend sleep, it’s boring…” He whined.

Keith tried to hide his amusement as he kept staring at his son. “I’m not asking you to do that. Come here, please.”

It was hard not to crack up when Shiro picked up his teacup and tipped it to his lips and stayed like that as if he thought Keith might grow bored and forget him. Keith might not have a lot of patience but he could wait out his eight-year-old. In the corner of his eye, he noticed Clara get up and join her dad once Saul was tucked under the blankets. They leaned close together, which warmed Keith’s heart yet caused a sliver of jealousy that his alpha and his daughter seemed to understand each other and connect on a level Keith couldn’t reach.

“We’re going to the patio for a bit.” smiled Lance. Clearly to continue a father-daughter discussion.

Keith nodded and tried to tamper down his jealousy. When they left, Keith focused on his eldest son who still had the cup up to his lips.

The extremely satisfying fantasy of slapping Shiro’s teacup out of his hand and straight into orbit ran through his head, but he kept his composure. Guilt shortly followed as he imagined his Shiro’s reaction to that impulse — big tearful eyes, trembling lips. His baby might be hyperactive but he was quite the sensitive soul. Shiro set the cup down suddenly as if he was reading Keith’s mind somehow and scurried over.

Keith smiled down at him, giving his baby a kiss on the forehead. While his other two kids closely resembled himself (Clara to a startling degree), Shiro’s physical features were a mixture of both his parents which was made of Lance’s grin and skin tone, Keith’s eyes and then the chin and nose somewhere between the two. His brown hair was usually shorn short but would be a fluffed wavy mess were it to grow out. 

His son always seemed to be thrumming with energy even now. Keith spoke gently, “Stay here,” then stood to retrieve his tablet from the nightstand. When he returned, Shiro frowned and his eyebrows furrowed as he fixed a long inquisitive look on his mom. Keith kept his amusement carefully hidden and tried to convey serene innocence as he sat back down and pulled Shiro flush to his side. 

His son watched him access the tablet in silence then broke into whining crying noises when Keith navigated towards the album galleries.

“Mamiiiiiiiii,” Shiro pouted. 

“We should check for new portraits,” Keith said, unmoved by his son’s annoyance. He unlocked a secured area of the gallery and accessed a folder that was connected to Pidge’s server. He grinned as Shiro groaned theatrically; the folder indicated there was new content.

“Mami I don’t want to see any more Uncle Lotor pictures. They’re boring!” He grumbled.

“Saul and papi seem to like them.”

“Then you should show them to Saul and papi! I’ll go get papi!”

Shiro struggled to get out of his mom’s ‘hug’ but was held tight. A minute later, when he realized his wriggling was futile, Shiro gave up and looked back up at his mom in silence.

Keith’s bland smile hadn’t changed. 

“There are twenty-six virtual busts that we haven’t seen yet.” His tone remained quiet and soothing. As expected, Shiro’s face grew slack and his eyes grew half-lidded. Keith projected the first bust — a three-dimensional projection of Lotor materialized in front of them containing Galra text underneath. Lotor’s expression was exactly the same as the last hundred images he had shared with the Voltron family.

Keith rotated the bust so they could see the intricate braid in the back and translated the caption text.

“Spiny fish — inverted variation.”

“Mami!” whined Shiro. 

“Shh, Shiro, don’t wake Saul.” Keith cleared his throat and pointed at a random part of the braid, using words he remembered his bondmate using when gushing about the latest Lotor hair adventures (the secret passion of the former leader of the post-alliance free universe), Keith improvised.

“See the braid is inverted here. You know what I mean by that?” he asked softly, “Uncle Lotor started out with a ponytail and divided it into two big sections and then pulled a few strands from this section and looped it under  _ instead _ of over this other section. Your papi believes he uses an Altean goo product that Aunt Allura used to love which explains the sheen quality. Your uncle uses one drop of goo each day for maintenance.”

His son slumped heavily on him and huffed.

Keith slowly rotated the figure then swiped for the next projection. Lotor’s narrowed eyes and enigmatic non-smile was nearly identical to the previous.

“Spiny fish — classic.” Keith read. 

He rotated the bust and pointed to a higher section of the braid. “See how the hair loops over this other section? This is the classic spiny-fish style of braid not to be confused with the inverted variation.”

“Mami…”

“The difference is subtle but obvious if you know what you are looking for. The braid loops over, then under, then over, then under while the inverted variation is actually under, then over, then under then over. It’s not easy to get through a whole head of hair that is as long as Uncle Lotor’s so this is even more impressive than you think it is.

Keith swiped to the next projection.

“Spiny fish-”

“It’s the same picture again…” Shiro grumped and blinked heavily. His eyelids were drooping more so.

“Baby, don’t interrupt,” murmured Keith. “Spiny fish — inside out variation. For this one, Uncle Lotor divided his hair in two sections again and collected some strands from the outer side of this section and combined it with the inner section and then looped it through the split between sections and pulled it through. 

“The pull-through exposes the typically hidden part of the braid. This braid is only possible because of the goo that Uncle Lotor combs through his hair. It needs to reach a certain sheer and thickness for the pull-through to be possible. This one is very similar to the human dutch braid. Your papi can tell you all about it.”

Keith was suddenly supporting his son’s whole upper body. When faced with the prospect of viewing the latest Lotor hairstyles or bedtime, it seemed his child preferred sweet, merciful oblivion. Perfect. Keith ended the projection, selected all the unviewed images, marked them as viewed and closed the folder. He picked up his little hostage and tucked him under warm blankets on the bed then slid into the other bed next to Saul and picked up the e-pamphlet to distract himself from the fact that he was still excluded from the father-daughter conversation going on.

There were a list of events detailed in the pamphlet and one of them caught his eye — 

_ The Annual Alpha Carrying Contest _

_ Log hurdles, sand traps, and horrendous widow-maker ordeals, do you have what it takes? _

_ Prove your mettle and conquer the obstacles in your path — uphill both ways! Winner gets their alpha’s weight in beer! _

_ There are two simple rules: 1. You must carry an alpha through the entire course and 2. You and your alpha must wear helmets!  _

_ You do not have to be bonded to the alpha. You may borrow a friend’s alpha or pick up an alpha over yonder. Join us this Friday at the Cycler Sands Arena! Sign up today! _

Keith smirked. It looked like there was a competition in need of him and Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. The next few chaps should be silly and fun. :))


End file.
